Overview of Music in Southern Italy

Evidently, the prehistoric past of Italy has had a significant influence on the country’s music, which varies from place to region (Arkenberg n.p). For instance, Arabic and Greek influences predominate heavily in the music of southern Italy, yet substantial Celtic influences are present in the music of northern Italy. According to Arkenberg (n.p.), the majority of traditional music from southern Italy is deeply rooted in religious symbolism. Sicily is a prime example of regional traditional music, and it is well-known for its ties to a number of musical genres with strong religious overtones. Sicilian music is well known for its distinctive Christian devotional tunes. Flute is the traditional instrument used to perform Sicily music (Arkenberg n.p). Sardinia is another traditional music form southern Italy and is commonly known recognized for its distinctive contrapuntal style of repetition. Similarly, this type of music uses the 8th century Sardinian triple pipe instrument for performance. Additionally, Opera is another well recognized form of traditional music from southern Italy dating as early as the 16th century in Venice. Moreover, the regions uses Tarantella dance in most of its traditional musical performances. Notably, a group of folk dances characterized by quick movements and music is called Tarantella commonly believed to yield the remedy for spider venom.

Nettl and Timothy (152) notes that southern Italy music has taken diverse forms of Music over popular music which includes folk music, pop music, rock music and opera music. It is worth noting that music has significantly contributed towards the folklore and culture of Southern Italy. Renaissance composers such as Corelli, Rossini, Puccini and Berio are among the most famous music composers from the region who have proved to be vital in the development of electronic and experimental music. Nettl and Timothy (158) argues that Southern Italy has taken a critical role towards the historical development of Music in Europe. For instance, majority of the musical instruments such as the Piano and Violin were typically invented in Italy. The art of Opera, the scale of music, and several terms in music such as concert, sonnet and quartet were generally developed in Italy. Moreover, the current classical European forms of music can trace their roots back to the Italian’s 16th and 17th century innovations of music such as concerto, symphony and sonata (Nettl and Timothy 167). Towards that end, in terms of notation and harmony, these innovations have greatly influenced the classical music in Europe as well as promoting the development of the late 15th century Opera.

Markedly, popular music in southern Italy derives it source both in foreign and native styles of music (Nettle and Timothy 171). For example, the Italian cantautori and the Neapolitan song canzone Napoletana alongside other foreign genres such as pop, jazz, hip hop and rock music have strongly contributed towards the formation of the comprehensive body of Southern Italian music. Nevertheless, a significant part of the region’s musical heritage is formed through the intervention of the Italian Folk music thereby offering a diverse assortment of regional instruments, styles and locally colored languages. Accordingly, folk music in southern Italy has always been a method in which the region has continuously used to express its local identity as well as address political, cultural and social concerns of the region (Nettle and Timothy 174) . In southern Italy where Italians settle and in Italy itself, music is an integral part of an individual’s life.

Pogelli (115) argues that a quick review of the musical history of southern Italy offers a clear and concise evidence of the love affair of the region with the musical form of art. Foremost, the definition of the eight-note octave, creation of symphonies, modification of the string quartet and the introduction of innovations in harmony, musical scales and notations were done by Italian composers. Up to date, these creations are largely employed in traditional Italian terms such as the piano, adagio and legato among others (Pogelli, 119). Secondly, craftsmen from southern Italy and the whole of Italy invented musical instruments like the bassoon and the harpsichord and polished other instruments like the violin and piano. Third, the first literature ever written on dance was done by Italians. Similarly, the first ballet which means to dance was staged by Italians. Fourth, the theatrical traditions in southern Italy like the commedia dell’Arte facilitated Opera development. Italian music has taken different forms such as Folk, Classical, and Italian Rock music.

Folk Music: Indeed, southern Italy has developed its own unique musical instruments, styles and dances (Pogelli, 123). The most popular musical styles in southern Italy are the lyric songs referred to as canti lirico monostrofici as opposed ballads in northern Italy. Folk music in southern Italy perfectly reflects the impact of several invaders along with foreign styles. This form of music is accompanied by instruments like flute, piano accordion and various pipes.

Classical: In southern Italy, classical music is commonly correlated with an Italian identity despite its origin from northern Italy (Pogelli, 126). Classical music developed in southern Italy after the revolutionary period in the 17th century which marked the development of European music. However, classical music in southern Italy has changed and a new music with well-developed melody and harmony that has given rise to electronic music evident in music compositions of Ferruccio Busoni and Jacopo Napoli.

Rock: This type of music was developed in the mid-19th century following the birth of rock and roll music. The regions has great rock singers and composers like Vasco Rossi and Gianna although they do not hit the charts in countries that speak English (Pogelli, 128). Currently, there are large significant rock scenes in southern Italy accompanies with lifestyles and fashions that are similar to those in United States.

Part 2: Folk Music in Southern Italy

Hijleh (105) asserts that musical transformation in relation to writing music in local language from the tradition way of writing music in Latin occurred following the development of troubadours. Troubadours is a form of music which traces its roots from France but later spread to southern Italy in the 12th century where it was then called folk music (Hijleh 108). The development of folk music in this region extended to the lyrics of common songs in Italy. To that end, flagellants from southern Italy began developing the Italian folk hymns referred to as spiritual laude. Various styles of folk music in southern Italy are very diverse in nature. They generally include polyphonic, monophonic and responsorial choral, song, vocal and instrumental music among other styles. According to Hijleh (111), polyphonic forms of song, choral singing as well as solo singing are the commonly found in southern Italy although solo singing is predominantly experienced in southern Italy as opposed to northern Italy which is predominated by the other two.

In most cases, various groups of artistes in southern Italy normally incorporate the use of unison singing in three or two parts held by a single singer (Hijleh 115). Additionally, artistes and song writers in southern Italy use a strained tense vocal style and a rubato tempo as opposed to that of artistes and songwriters in northern Italy who mainly do syllabic ballad singing with an intelligible lyrics and strict tempo. Hijleh (120) notes that folk musicians in southern Italy use their own regional traditional language or dialect when composing and performing folk music as opposed to their northern counterparts. It is worth noting that this is not considered a rejection of the standard language among Italians. However, it is what folk music entails. In simple terms, folk music is about local identity and color.

Part 3: Instrumentation of Folk Songs in Southern Italy

Folk songs composed in Italy include lyrical songs, ballads, children songs, lullabies, seasonal songs such Christmas and life cycle songs composed to celebrate baptism, weddings and other significant occasions (Miller and Andrew 132). Lyrical songs in addition to lullabies and seasonal songs are the most common songs in southern Italy. Moreover, lyrical songs are diverse component that includes serenades, occupation songs and seasonal songs which continuously undergoes improvisation based on traditional repository. Furthermore, other Italian folk songs are traditionally less recognized as opposed to lyrics and ballads. They include occasionally performed religious laude, strophic and epic songs especially those of the maggio celebration. The Italian carnival associated with Brescia and Bagolino carnival exists in southern Italy.

Miller and Andrew (136) asserts that instrumentation is a key aspect of all the Italian facets of folk music. Even though current models have become widely distributed in Europe, there are several instruments used by southern Italy that have largely assisted the region to retain older forms of folk music. Towards that end, musical instruments such as Zampogna typically used during seasonal celebrations like Christmas, are tied to specific occasions and rituals in southern Italy. The folk instruments in the region can be dived into wind, string and percussion categories (Miller and Andrew 139). Examples of southern Italian wind instruments include a diverse range of prominent folk flutes such as globular, duct and transverse flutes. String instruments includes viggiano which is a home to harp tradition in southern Italy. Additionally, percussion instruments such as bells, wood blocks, drums, and castanets forms part of the folk music in southern Italy. Other areas within the region have different forms of percussions such as the Calabrian conocchie and the raganella rattle.

Bibliography

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Hijleh, Mark. Towards a Global Music Theory: Practical Concepts and Methods for the Analysis of Music Across Human Cultures. Routledge, 2016.

Miller, Terry E, and Andrew C. Shahriari. World Music: A Global Journey. Routledge, 2017.

Nettl, Bruno, and Timothy Rommen. Excursions in World Music. 6th ed., Taylor and Francis, 2016.

Pogelli, Stefano. “Southern Italy.” Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, vol. 5, no. 3, 10 May 2017, pp. 110-200.