The Music of Sicily refers to music created by peoples from the isle of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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. It was shaped by the island's history, from the island's great presence as part of
Magna Grecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
2,500 years ago, through various historical incarnations as a part of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, then as an independent state as the
Emirate of Sicily
The Emirate of Sicily ( ar, إِمَارَة صِقِلِّيَة, ʾImārat Ṣiqilliya) was an Islamic kingdom that ruled the island of Sicily from 831 to 1091. Its capital was Palermo (Arabic: ''Balarm''), which during this period became a ...
then as an integral part of the
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
and later the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and a ...
, and, finally, as an
autonomous region
An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy ...
of the modern nation state of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
General comments
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
is home to a great variety of
Religious music
Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...
, including
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
devotional songs from
Montedoro
Montedoro ( Sicilian: ''Muntidoru'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about west of Caltanissetta. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of ...
and many
brass bands like
Banda Ionica, who play songs from a diverse repertoire.
Harvest songs and
work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song.
Definitions and ...
s are also indigenous to the agricultural island, known as "Italy's granary". Sicilian
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
music, called
friscaletto, is also popular among traditionalist Sicilians, as are
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
's male
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
s and the island's ''"
ciarameddi"'' (bagpipes).
Franco Battiato
Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esoteric, philosophical and religious themes, a ...
,
Carmen Consoli
Carmen Consoli (; born 4 September 1974 in Catania) is an Italian singer-songwriter. She has released 11 studio albums, one greatest hits, one soundtrack album, two live albums, four video album and 33 singles, selling 2 million copies in It ...
,
Fratelli Mancuso The Fratelli Mancuso, the brothers Enzo and Lorenzo Mancuso, are musicians who were born in Sutera in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. They moved to London in the 1970s and have been based in Città della Pieve, Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, ...
and
Ciccio Busacca
Francesco Busacca better known as Cicciu or Ciccio Busacca (1925–1989) was born in Paternò, Province of Catania. He was one of the best known Sicilian ballad singers. Dario Fo
Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) wa ...
are among the most popular musicians from Sicily. Busacca has worked with
Dario Fo
Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. I ...
, like many Italian musicians, but is perhaps best known for his setting the poems of
Ignazio Buttitta
Ignazio Buttitta (19 September 1899 – 5 April 1997) was an Italian poet who wrote predominantly in Sicilian.
Biography
Born at Bagheria, Italy into a merchant's family, after having taken part in World War I Buttitta joined the Italian Social ...
, a poet who wrote in
Sicilian. Fratelli Mancuso (with brothers
Enzo
Enzo is an Italian given name derivative of the German name Heinz. It can be used also as the short form for Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Innocenzo, or Fiorenzo. It is most common in the Romance-speaking world, particularly in Italy and Latin Americ ...
and
Lorenzo Mancuso
Lorenzo may refer to:
People
* Lorenzo (name)
Places Peru
* San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo
United States
* Lorenzo, Illinois
* Lorenzo, Texas
* San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo
* Lorenzo State ...
) have fused traditional Sicilian peasant songs (
lamentazioni), monodic chants (
alla carrettiera Alla may refer to:
* Ara Gaya, also called Alla (안라), a city-state kingdom in the part of Gaya confederacy, in modern-day Haman County of Korea
Music
* "Alla" (song) a song by Swedish singer Sofia
* Allá, a rock band from Chicago
* '' At.L ...
) and other indigenous forms to create a uniquely Sicilian modern song style.
Sicily has the most vibrant
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
scene in Italy, based in
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
and including
Enzo Rao and his group Shamal, who have added native Sicilian and Arab influences to American jazz. Sicily is also home to
Franco Battiato
Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esoteric, philosophical and religious themes, a ...
, a popular musician and composer who fused
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
with traditional and classical influences, beginning with 1979's ''
L'era del cinghiale bianco
''L'era del cinghiale bianco'' (Italian: "The Era of the White Boar") is an album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato. It was released in 1979 by the label EMI ''Italiana''.
This album marks the return of Battiato to pop, after a peri ...
'', a popular landmark album. Pop
Classical Crossover
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, (especially in the United States) when a song appears on two or more of the record charts which track differ ...
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
queen
Romina Arena
Romina Arena is an Italian American, Italian-American popera, operatic pop, pop Crossover (music), classical crossover, rock opera and New-age music, new-age singer-songwriter.
Early life
Romina Arena was born and raised in Palermo, Sicily, to a ...
hails from Sicily. She has not only recorded in her Sicilian/Italian languages but recorded and released recordings in many other languages including English, Japanese, Spanish and French worldwide.
The vast migration of Sicilians to New Orleans in the United States between the late 1800s and early 1900s is also credited for aiding the creation of jazz as well.
During this migration, Sicilian music integrated with music from the local African American and Creole communities, which resulted in the development of jazz.
Two members of the
Original Dixieland Jass Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the m ...
, bandleader
Nick LaRocca
Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca (April 11, 1889 – February 22, 1961), was an American early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time ...
and drummer
Tony Sbarbaro
Antonio Sparbaro, known professionally as Tony Sbarbaro or Tony Spargo (June 27, 1897 – October 30, 1969) was an American jazz drummer associated with New Orleans jazz. He was the drummer of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band for over 50 years ...
, were each born to parents who had migrated from Sicily.
Traditional music
Sicily's historical connections lie not primarily with mainland Italy, but with the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Hymns,
Arabic Maqam
Arabic maqam ( ar, مقام, maqām, literally "rank"; ') is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music, which is mainly melodic. The word ''maqam'' in Arabic means place, location or position. The Arabic ''maqam'' is a melo ...
,
and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
music styles. The result has been a diverse and unique fusion of musical elements on the island. American
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
made some historic recordings of Sicilian traditional music in the 20th century, including
lullabies
A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowledg ...
,
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
, festival music, epic storytelling and religious music. The
Siciliana
The siciliana or siciliano (also known as the sicilienne or the ciciliano) is a musical style or genre often included as a movement within larger pieces of music starting in the Baroque period. It is in a slow or time with lilting rhythms, ...
, a slow and lilting Italian style of music in triple meter, is loosely but not definitively associated with Sicily since the 1600s.
Sicily is home to several different types of folk music instruments, many of which can also be found in other parts of Southern Italy. The Sicilian
ciaramedda {{unreferenced, date=December 2014
The ciaramedda or ciaramèddha ( Sicilian) is a type of zampogna with equal length double chanters. Other terms for this instrument include "zampogna a paru" and "terzalora" or simply "cornamuse".
The ciaramedda ...
is a type of Italian
Zampogna
Zampogna (, , ) is a generic term for a number of Italian double chantered bagpipe that can be found as far north as the southern part of the Marche, throughout areas in Abruzzo, Latium, Molise, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia and Sicily. Th ...
(
Bagpipe
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, Nor ...
) that has two equal length chanters and from two to three drones. All the pipes use single cane reeds made from ''
Arundo donax
''Arundo donax'' is a tall perennial cane. It is one of several so-called reed species. It has several common names including giant cane, elephant grass, carrizo, arundo, Spanish cane, Colorado river reed, wild cane, and giant reed. ''Arundo'' an ...
''. Also made out of ''Arundo donax'' is a small end-blown flute called a
friscaletto or friscalettu. The
jaw harp, known in Sicilian as "marranzanu" is heavily associated with Sicilian folk music. Since its invention in the early 19th century, the
Organetto, a diatonic folk
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
, also has been prevalent in traditional Sicilian music. Percussion instruments include
tambourines
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
and other frame drums as well as the ''"cupa cupa"'', a unique-sounding friction drum.
Musical and theatrical venues
Sicily has 9 provinces. They are Palermo, Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Catania, Enna, Messina, Ragusa, Siracusa, and Trapani, (each named for the largest city and capital of the province). By province they offer these venues and activities:
*
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
: the theatrical tradition in Palermo goes back the 16th century and the visit of
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
. Currently, there are about a dozen theaters in the city of Palermo that feature live music. Among these are the
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II.
It is the biggest in Italy, and one of the largest of Europe (at the time of its i ...
, the Teatro di Verdura a Villa Castelnuovo (an ex-Bourbon hunting lodge for the royal family of Naples on the frequent trips to Sicily), the
Teatro Politeama Garibaldi, the
Teatro Biondo
The Biondo Theatre (Italian: Teatro Biondo, complete name Teatro Biondo Stabile) is a neoclassical and Art Nouveau-style theater building located on Via Roma #258, corner with Via Venezia, in the ancient quarter of Castellamare of central Pa ...
(specializing in modern and contemporary music), the
Teatro Santa Cecilia, the auditorium of the
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania".
Many years later, in 1898, Giu ...
music conservatory, and the Salone dello
Steri (seat of the
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
in the 17th and 18th centuries and currently home to the Antonio Il Verso Association for Ancient Music). The town of Monreal in the province hosts a Sacred Music Week on the premises of the cathedral;
*
Agrigento
Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one of ...
: the site of an important folk festival, the ''Sagro del Mandorlo in Fiore''. The city also has the Teatro
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...
and an archaeological museum that hosts concerts amidst ancient ruins.
*
Caltanissetta
Caltanissetta (; scn, Nissa or ) is a ''comune'' in the central interior of Sicily, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta. Its inhabitants are called ''Nisseni''.
In 2017, the city had a population of 62,797. It is the 14th l ...
: the recently reopened Teatro Regina Margherita sponsors the concerts of the Friends of Music Association as well as the "finals" of the Vincenzo Bellini music competition.
*
Catania
Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
: the city is the site of the splendid Teatro Massimo Bellini, built in 1890 and still decorated with the original architectural allegories to the works of this "favorite son" composer.
*
Enna
Enna ( or ; grc, Ἔννα; la, Henna, less frequently ), known from the Middle Ages until 1926 as Castrogiovanni ( scn, Castrugiuvanni ), is a city and located roughly at the center of Sicily, southern Italy, in the province of Enna, towering ...
: the cathedral of Enna (from the early 14th century) is the occasional site of music performances; so it is the medieval castle (13th century), one of the biggest fortresses in Sicily, which has hosted for decades the so-called "Closest theater to stars", name due to the altitude of the castle and town of Enna (more than 950 m on the sea level).
*
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
: the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina hosts concerts sponsored by the Laudamo Philharmonic Association. The Cathedral of Messina was heavily damaged both in the
1908 Messina earthquake
The 1908 Messina earthquake (also known as the 1908 Messina and Reggio earthquake) occurred on 28 December in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The epicen ...
and by the bombings of WW2; it has been restored to its original Norman style and is the frequent site of classical music concerts. Messina is the site of the Arcangelo Corelli music conservatory.
Moreover, in
Taormina
Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...
there is one of the most charming music venues of Italy, the well-preserved Greek theatre which regularly hosts a season of concerts every summer.
*
Ragusa Ragusa is the historical name of Dubrovnik. It may also refer to:
Places Croatia
* the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa
* Cavtat (historically ' in Italian), a town in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Cro ...
: the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista hosts classical music concerts; in the town of Modica, there is a library and center for popular arts and traditions, including music.
*
Siracusa: the greatest of all sites of ancient Magna Grecia. The city of Siracusa has the San Pietro al Carmine auditorium as well as a large ancient Roman amphitheater (within an even earlier Greek setting) that hosts concerts.
*
Trapani
Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...
: spread around various sites in the region are the July Music Festival and the International Opera and Youth Festival (both in the city of Trapani), the International Week of Medieval and Renaissance Music (in Erice), the International Opera Festival (in Alcamo), and the International Piano Competition and the Mario del Monaco Opera Competition (in Marsala). The Friends of Music in Trapani sponsors a very active concert season (see "external link," below).
References
*Much of the information on the music activities, theaters and other venues for music in this region is taken from ''Guide Cultura, i luoghi della music'' (2003) ed. Touring Club Italiano.
External links
Taberna Mylaensis: Sicilian Music, folksongs, folklore dance, ballade, poetry and instrumental songs on traditional instrumentsCantunovu: Sicilian music and folk traditions Concerts today in SicilyPalermo music conservatory Friends of Music, TrapaniMessina music conservatory
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