Music of Corsica
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Outside
Every June, Calvi is home to an International Jazz Festival and in September there are the annual Rencontres de Chants Polyphoniques.
Folk music
Dance
There are two dances of ancient origin found in Corsica: the caracolu, a women's funeral dance, and the moresca, illustrating the struggle between Moors and Christians. These days, they're not danced anymore. Traditional dances like the quatriglia (quadrille) or the scuttiscia (Scottish) have known some kind of revival over the last twenty years, groups like Diana di L'alba and Dopu Cena recorded the music and the associations Tutti in Piazza and Ochju à Ochju animate dance nights and teach as well. The granitula, a spiral procession, is still performed by the confraternities on Good Friday.
Monophonic song
The oldest vocal forms include such
Polyphonic song
The tradition of Corsican polyphonic singing had nearly become extinct until its revival (riaquistu) in the 1970s. It is now a central part of Corsican national identity, and is sometimes linked with political agitation for autonomy or independence.
Some popular modern groups include I Chjami Aghjalesi, the Palatini, A Filetta, Terra, Voce di Corsica, Alte Voce, Barbara Furtuna, Vaghjime, Cinqui So', all-female Donnisulana, Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses, Tavagna, Canta u Populu Corsu, I Muvrini, and Ployphonies Corses Sarocchi. The region of Balagne has emerged as a hot spot for Corsican music, producing groups like U Fiatu Muntese.
World music market
One style of Corsican polyphonic singing that was particularly associated with Corsican nationalism and the 1970s resurgence of traditional Corsican music was paghjella, which had previously only survived in villages in the interior of the island. Paghjella traditionally consisted of three voices - known as bassu, secunda, and terza - phrasing polyphonic melodic lines, and typically involved staggered entrances by the three voices and heavy use of the
In the late 1980s, owing to the growth in popularity of so-called
Corsican traditional music, however, does not necessarily fit the typical definition of "world music", as it is generally recorded on the island of Corsica, difficult to find and listen to outside of Corsica, and not concerned with sounding "suited to the disco floor". Corsican traditional music also does not fit the typical definition of "folk music", as there is not a clear definition between "educated exponents of the tradition and the great majority of local people"- that is, the Corsican musical tradition has remained a part of everyday life.
Traditional instruments
- reed
- lutenist).
- Cialamedda (also cialamella/cialambella) - formerly a reed instrument, more recently with a wooden box body
- Mandulina - a mandolin
- Pirula - a reed recorder
- Pifana (also pivana) - a type of gemshorn generally made from a goat horn
- Riberbula - related to the jaw harp
- Sunaglieri - mule bells
- Timpanu - a triangle
- Urganettu - a diatonic accordion
- Cassella - Percussion with small sticks on a goatskin stretched over a sieve.
External links
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (105 minutes): Corsica and Sardinia. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- L'Invitu: informative site about all aspects of Corsican music.
- Félix Quilici, l'homme à l'écoute: interesting documentary about the man who first started collecting traditional Corsican music (the "Corsican Alan Lomax") - in French.
References
- Cantu Nustrale, Ghjermana de Zerbi - Albiana, 2009
- Notes