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InItaly,music has traditionally been one of the cultural markers of Italian national cultures and ethnic identity and holds an important position in society and inpolitics. Italian music innovation – inmusical scale,harmony,notation, andtheatre – enabled the development of opera and much of modernEuropean classical music – such as thesymphony and concerto – ranges across a broad spectrum of opera and instrumental classical music and popular music drawn from both native and imported sources. Instruments associated with classical music, including the piano and violin, were invented in Italy.[1]
Italy's most famous composers include the RenaissancePalestrina,Monteverdi, andGesualdo; theBaroqueScarlatti, andVivaldi; the classicalPaganini, andRossini; and the RomanticVerdi andPuccini. Classical music has a strong hold in Italy, as evidenced by the fame of its opera houses such as La Scala, and performers such as the pianistMaurizio Pollini and tenorLuciano Pavarotti. Italy is known as the birthplace of opera.[2]Italian opera is believed to have been founded in the 17th century.[2]
Italian folk music is an important part of the country's musical heritage, and spans a diverse array of regional styles, instruments and dances. Instrumental and vocal classical music is an iconic part ofItalian identity, spanning experimental art music and international fusions to symphonic music and opera. Opera is integral to Italian musical culture, and has become a major segment ofpopular music. TheCanzone Napoletana—the Neapolitan Song, and thecantautori singer-songwriter traditions are also popular domestic styles that form an important part of the Italian music industry.
Introduced in the early 1920s,jazz gained a strong foothold in Italy, and remained popular despite xenophobic policies of the Fascists. Italy was represented in theprogressive rock and pop movements of the 1970s, with bands such asPFM,Banco del Mutuo Soccorso,Le Orme,Goblin, andPooh.[3] The same period saw diversification in thecinema of Italy, andCinecittà films included complex scores by composers includingEnnio Morricone. In the 1980s, the first star to emerge fromItalian hip hop was singerJovanotti.[4] Italian metal bands includeRhapsody of Fire,Lacuna Coil,Elvenking,Forgotten Tomb, andFleshgod Apocalypse.[5]
Italy contributed to the development ofdisco andelectronic music, with Italo disco, known for its futuristic sound and prominent use of synthesisers and drum machines, one of the earliest electronic dance genres.[6] Producers such asGiorgio Moroder, who won three Academy Awards and four Golden Globes, were influential in the development of electronic dance music.[7] Italian pop is represented annually with theSanremo Music Festival, which served as inspiration for theEurovision Song Contest.[8]Gigliola Cinquetti,Toto Cutugno, andMåneskin won Eurovision, in1964,1990, and2021 respectively. Singers such asDomenico Modugno,Mina,Andrea Bocelli,Raffaella Carrà,Il Volo,Al Bano,Toto Cutugno,Nek,Umberto Tozzi,Giorgia, Grammy winnerLaura Pausini,Eros Ramazzotti,Tiziano Ferro, Måneskin,Mahmood,Ghali have received international acclaim.[9]
Italian music has been held up in high esteem in history and many pieces of Italian music are considered high art. More than other elements ofItalian culture, music is generally eclectic, but unique from other nations' music. The country's historical contributions to music are also an important part of national pride. The relatively recent history of Italy includes the development of an opera tradition that has spread throughout the world; prior to the development of Italian identity or a unified Italian state, the Italian peninsula contributed to important innovations in music including the development ofmusical notation andGregorian chant.
Italy has a strong sense of national identity through distinctive culture – a sense of an appreciation of beauty and emotionality, which is strongly evidenced in the music. Cultural, political and social issues are often also expressed through music in Italy. Allegiance to music is integrally woven into the social identity of Italians but no single style has been considered a characteristic "national style". Most folk music is localized, and unique to a small region or city.[10][11] Italy's classical legacy, however, is an important point of the country's identity, particularly opera; traditional operatic pieces remain a popular part of music and an integral component of national identity. The musical output of Italy remains characterized by "great diversity and creative independence (with) a rich variety of types of expression".[11]
With the growing industrialization that accelerated during the 20th and 21st century, Italian society gradually moved from an agricultural base to an urban and industrial center. This change weakened traditional culture in many parts of society; a similar process occurred in other European countries, but unlike them, Italy had no major initiative to preserve traditional musics. Immigration from North Africa, Asia, and other European countries led to further diversification of Italian music. Traditional music came to exist only in small pockets, especially as part of dedicated campaigns to retain local musical identities.[12]
Music and politics have been intertwined for centuries in Italy. Just as many works of art in the ItalianRenaissance were commissioned by royalty and theCatholic Church, much music was likewise composed on the basis of such commissions—incidental court music, music for coronations, for the birth of a royal heir, royal marches, and other occasions. Composers who strayed ran certain risks. Among the best known of such cases was the Neapolitan composerDomenico Cimarosa, who composed the Republican hymn for the short-livedNeapolitan Republic of 1799. When the republic fell, he was tried for treason along with other revolutionaries. Cimarosa was not executed by the restored monarchy, but he was exiled.[15]
Music also played a role in the unification of the peninsula. During this period, some leaders attempted to use music to forge a unifying cultural identity. One example is the chorus "Va, pensiero" fromGiuseppe Verdi's operaNabucco. The opera is about ancientBabylon kingdom, but thechorus contains the phrase "O mia Patria", ostensibly about the struggle of theIsraelites confederation, but also a thinly veiled reference to the destiny of a not-yet-united Italy; the entire chorus became the unofficial anthem of theRisorgimento, the drive to unify Italy in the 19th century. Even Verdi's name was a synonym for Italian unity because "Verdi" could be read as an acronym forVittorio Emanuele Re d'Italia,Victor Emanuel King of Italy, theSavoy monarch who eventually becameVictor Emanuel II, the first king of united Italy. Thus, "Viva Verdi" was a rallying cry for patriots and often appeared in graffiti inMilan and other cities in what was then part ofAustro-Hungarian territory. Verdi had problems with censorship before the unification of Italy. His operaUn ballo in maschera was originally entitledGustavo III and was presented to theSan Carlo opera inNaples, the capital of theKingdom of the Two Sicilies, in the late 1850s. The Neapolitan censors objected to the realistic plot about the assassination ofGustav III,King of Sweden, in the 1790s. Even after the plot was changed, the Neapolitan censors still rejected it.[16]
Later, in the Fascist era of the 1920s and 30s, government censorship and interference with music occurred, though not on a systematic basis. Prominent examples include the notorious anti-modernist manifesto of 1932[17] andMussolini's banning of G.F. Malipiero's operaLa favola del figlio cambiato after one performance in 1934.[18] The music media often criticized music that was perceived as either politically radical or insufficiently Italian.[11] General print media, such as theEnciclopedia Moderna Italiana, tended to treat traditionally favored composers such asGiacomo Puccini andPietro Mascagni with the same brevity as composers and musicians that were not as favored—modernists such asAlfredo Casella andFerruccio Busoni; that is, encyclopedia entries of the era were mere lists of career milestones such as compositions and teaching positions held. Even the conductorArturo Toscanini, an avowed opponent of Fascism,[19] gets the same neutral and distant treatment with no mention at all of his "anti-regime" stance.[20] Perhaps the best-known episode of music colliding with politics involves Toscanini. He had been forced out of the musical directorship atLa Scala in Milan in 1929 because he refused to begin every performance with the fascist song, "Giovinezza". For this insult to the regime, he was attacked and beaten on the street outside the Bologne opera after a performance in 1931.[21] During the Fascist era, political pressure stymied the development of classical music, although censorship was not as systematic as in Nazi Germany. A series of "racial laws" was passed in 1938, thus denying to Jewish composers and musicians membership in professional and artistic associations.[a] Although there was not a massive flight of Italian Jews from Italy during this period (compared to the situation in Germany)[b] composerMario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, an Italian Jew, was one of those who emigrated. Some non-Jewish foes of the regime also emigrated—Toscanini, for one.[22][23]
More recently, in the later part of the 20th century, especially in the 1970s and beyond, music became further enmeshed in Italian politics.[23] Aroots revival stimulated interest in folk traditions, led by writers, collectors and traditional performers.[11] The political right in Italy viewed this roots revival with disdain, as a product of the "unprivileged classes".[24] The revivalist scene thus became associated with the opposition, and became a vehicle for "protest against free-market capitalism".[11] Similarly, the avant-garde classical music scene has, since the 1970s, been associated with and promoted by theItalian Communist Party, a change that can be traced back to the 1968 student revolts and protests.[12]
Italy has long been a center for European classical music, and by the beginning of the 20th century, Italian classical music had forged a distinct national sound that was decidedlyRomantic andmelodic. As typified by the operas of Verdi, it was music in which "... The vocal lines always dominate the tonal complex and are never overshadowed by the instrumental accompaniments ..."[25] Italian classical music had resisted the "German harmonic juggernaut"[26]—that is, the dense harmonies ofRichard Wagner,Gustav Mahler andRichard Strauss. Italian music also had little in common with the French reaction to that German music—the impressionism ofClaude Debussy, for example, in which melodic development is largely abandoned for the creation of mood and atmosphere through the sounds of individual chords.[27]
European classical music changed greatly in the 20th century. New music abandoned much of the historical, nationally developed schools of harmony and melody in favor ofexperimental music,atonality,minimalism andelectronic music, all of which employ features that have become common to European music in general and not Italy specifically.[28] These changes have also made classical music less accessible to many people. Important composers of the period includeOttorino Respighi,Ferruccio Busoni,Alfredo Casella,Gian Francesco Malipiero,Franco Alfano,Bruno Maderna,Luciano Berio,Luigi Nono,Sylvano Bussotti,Salvatore Sciarrino,Luigi Dallapiccola,Carlo Jachino,Gian Carlo Menotti,Jacopo Napoli, andGoffredo Petrassi.
Opera originated in Italy in the late 16th century during the time of theFlorentine Camerata. Through the centuries that followed, opera traditions developed in Naples and Venice; the operas ofClaudio Monteverdi,Alessandro Scarlatti,Giambattista Pergolesi, and, later, ofGioacchino Rossini,Vincenzo Bellini, andGaetano Donizetti flourished. Opera has remained the musical form most closely linked with Italian music and Italian identity. This was most obvious in the 19th century through the works ofGiuseppe Verdi, an icon of Italian culture and pan-Italian unity. Italy retained aRomantic operatic musical tradition in the early 20th century, exemplified by composers of the so-calledGiovane Scuola, whose music was anchored in the previous century, includingArrigo Boito,Ruggiero Leoncavallo,Pietro Mascagni, andFrancesco Cilea.Giacomo Puccini, who was arealist composer, has been described byEncyclopædia Britannica Online as the man who "virtually brought the history of Italian opera to an end".[29]
After World War I, however, opera declined in comparison to the popular heights of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Causes included the general cultural shift away fromRomanticism and the rise of the cinema, which became a major source of entertainment. A third cause is the fact that "internationalism" had brought contemporary Italian opera to a state where it was no longer "Italian".[12] This was the opinion of at least one prominent Italian musicologist and critic,Fausto Terrefranca, who, in a 1912 pamphlet entitledGiaccomo Puccini and International Opera, accused Puccini of "commercialism" and of having deserted Italian traditions. Traditional Romantic opera remained popular; indeed, the dominant opera publisher in the early 20th century wasCasa Ricordi, which focused almost exclusively on popular operas until the 1930s, when the company allowed more unusual composers with less mainstream appeal. The rise of relatively new publishers such asCarisch andSuvini Zerboni also helped to fuel the diversification of Italian opera.[12] Opera remains a major part of Italian culture; renewed interest in opera across the sectors of Italian society began in the 1980s. Respected composers from this era include the well-knownAldo Clementi, and younger peers such asMarco Tutino andLorenzo Ferrero.[12]
Italy, being one of Catholicism's seminal nations, has a long history of music for theCatholic Church. Until approximately 1800, it was possible to hearGregorian Chant andRenaissancepolyphony, such as the music ofPalestrina,Lassus,Anerio, and others. Approximately 1800 to approximately 1900 was a century during which a more popular, operatic, and entertaining type of church music was heard, to the exclusion of the aforementioned chant and polyphony. In the late 19th century, theCecilian Movement was started by musicians who fought to restore this music. This movement gained impetus not in Italy but in Germany, particularly inRegensburg. The movement reached its apex around 1900 with the ascent of DonLorenzo Perosi and his supporter (and future saint),Pope Pius X.[30] The advent ofVatican II, however, nearly obliterated all Latin-language music from the Church, once again substituting it with a more popular style.[31]
The dominance of opera in Italian music tends to overshadow the important area of instrumental music.[32] Historically, such music includes the vast array of sacred instrumental music, instrumental concertos, and orchestral music in the works ofAndrea Gabrieli,Giovanni Gabrieli,Girolamo Frescobaldi,Giuseppe Garibaldi,Tomaso Albinoni,Arcangelo Corelli,Antonio Vivaldi,Domenico Scarlatti,Luigi Boccherini,Muzio Clementi,Giuseppe Gariboldi,Luigi Cherubini,Giovanni Battista Viotti andNiccolò Paganini. (Even opera composers occasionally worked in other forms—Giuseppe Verdi'sString Quartet in E minor, for example. EvenDonizetti, whose name is identified with the beginnings of Italian lyric opera, wrote 18string quartets.) In the early 20th century, instrumental music began growing in importance, a process that started around 1904 withGiuseppe Martucci's Second Symphony, a work thatGian Francesco Malipiero called "the starting point of the renaissance of non-operatic Italian music."[33] Several early composers from this era, such asLeone Sinigaglia, used native folk traditions.
The early 20th century is also marked by the presence of a group of composers called thegenerazione dell'ottanta (generation of 1880), includingFranco Alfano,Alfredo Casella,Gian Francesco Malipiero,Ildebrando Pizzetti, andOttorino Respighi. These composers usually concentrated on writing instrumental works, rather than opera. Members of this generation were the dominant figures in Italian music after Puccini's death in 1924.[12] New organizations arose to promote Italian music, such as theVenice Festival of Contemporary Music and theMaggio Musicale Fiorentino.Guido M. Gatti's founding of the periodicalIl Pianoforte and thenLa rassegna musicale also helped to promote a broader view of music than the political and social climate allowed. Most Italians, however, preferred more traditional pieces and established standards, and only a small audience sought new styles of experimental classical music.[12]
Italy is also the homeland of important interpreters, such asArturo Benedetti Michelangeli,Quartetto Italiano,I Musici,Salvatore Accardo,Maurizio Pollini,Uto Ughi,Aldo Ciccolini,Severino Gazzelloni,Arturo Toscanini,Mario Brunello,Ferruccio Busoni,Claudio Abbado,Ruggero Chiesa,Bruno Canino,Carlo Maria Giulini,Oscar Ghiglia andRiccardo Muti.
Italian contributions to ballet are less known and appreciated than in other areas of classical music. Italy, particularlyMilan, was a center ofcourt ballet as early as the 15th century, which was influenced by the entertainments common in royal celebrations and aristocratic weddings. Early choreographers and composers of ballet includeFabritio Caroso andCesare Negri. The style of ballet known as the "spectaclesall’italiana" imported to France from Italy caught on, and the first ballet performed in France (1581),Ballet Comique de la Reine, was choreographed by an Italian, Baltazarini di Belgioioso,[34] better known by the French version of his name,Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx. Early ballet was accompanied by considerable instrumentation, with the playing of horns, trombones, kettle drums, dulcimers, bagpipes, etc. Although the music has not survived, there is speculation that dancers, themselves, may have played instruments on stage.[35] Then, in the wake of theFrench Revolution, Italy again became a center of ballet, largely through the efforts ofSalvatore Viganò, a choreographer who worked with some of the most prominent composers of the day. He became balletmaster atLa Scala in 1812.[34] The best-known example of Italian ballet from the 19th century is probablyExcelsior, with music byRomualdo Marenco and choreography byLuigi Manzotti. It was composed in 1881 and is a lavish tribute to the scientific and industrial progress of the 19th century. It is still performed and was staged as recently as 2002.
Currently, major Italian opera theaters maintain ballet companies. They exist to provide incidental and ceremonial dancing in many operas, such asAida orLa Traviata. These dance companies usually maintain a separate ballet season and perform the standard repertoire of classical ballet, little of which is Italian. The Italian equivalent of the RussianBolshoi Ballet and similar companies that exist only to perform ballet, independent of a parent opera theater isLa Scala Theatre Ballet. In 1979, a modern dance company,Aterballetto, was founded in Reggio Emilia by Vittorio Biagi.
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Experimental music is a broad, loosely defined field encompassing musics created by abandoning traditional classical concepts of melody and harmony, and by using the new technology of electronics to create hitherto impossible sounds. In Italy, one of the first to devote his attention to experimental music wasFerruccio Busoni, whose 1907 publication,Sketch for a New Aesthetic of Music, discussed the use of electrical and other new sounds in future music. He spoke of his dissatisfaction with the constraints of traditional music:
Similarly,Luigi Russolo, the ItalianFuturist painter and composer, wrote of the possibilities of new music in his 1913 manifestoesThe Art of Noises andMusica Futurista. He also invented and built instruments such as theintonarumori, mostly percussion, which were used in a precursor to the style known asmusique concrète. One of the most influential events in early 20th century music was the return ofAlfredo Casella from France in 1915; Casella founded the Società Italiana di Musica Moderna, which promoted several composers in disparate styles, ranging from experimental to traditional. After a dispute over the value of experimental music in 1923, Casella formed theCorporazione delle Nuove Musiche to promote modern experimental music.[12]
In the 1950s,Luciano Berio experimented with instruments accompanied by electronic sounds on tape. In modern Italy, one important organization that fosters research in avantgarde and electronic music is CEMAT, the Federation of Italian Electroacoustic Music Centers. It was founded in 1996 in Rome and is a member of the CIME, theConfédération Internationale de Musique Electroacoustique. CEMAT promotes the activities of the "Sonora" project, launched jointly by the Department for Performing Arts, Ministry for Cultural Affairs and the Directorate for Cultural Relations, Ministry for Foreign Affairs with the object of promoting and diffusing Italian contemporary music abroad.
Italian classical music grew gradually more experimental and progressive into the mid-20th century, while popular tastes have tended to stick with well established composers and compositions of the past.[12] The 2004–2005 program at theTeatro San Carlo in Naples is typical of modern Italy: of the eight operas represented, the most recent was Puccini. In symphonic music, of the 26 composers whose music was played, 21 of them were from the 19th century or earlier, composers who use the melodies and harmonies typical of the Romantic era. This focus is common to other European traditions, and is known aspostmodernism, a school of thought that draws on earlier harmonic and melodic concepts that pre-date the conceptions ofatonality anddissonance.[37] This focus on popular historical composers has helped to maintain a continued presence of classical music across a broad spectrum of Italian society. When music is part of a public display or gathering, it is often chosen from a very eclectic repertoire that is as likely to include well-known classical music as popular music.
A few recent works have become a part of the modern repertoire, including scores and theatrical works by composers such asLuciano Berio,Luigi Nono,Franco Donatoni, andSylvano Bussotti. These composers are not part of a distinct school or tradition, though they do share certain techniques and influences. By the 1970s, avant-garde classical music had become linked to theItalian Communist Party, while a revival of popular interest continued into the next decade, with foundations, festivals and organization created to promote modern music. Near the end of the 20th century, government sponsorship of musical institutions began to decline, and severalRAI choirs and city orchestras were closed. Despite this, a number of composers gained international reputations in the early 21st century.[12]
Italian folk music has a deep and complex history.[38] Becausenational unification came late to theItalian peninsula, the traditional music of its many hundreds of cultures exhibit no homogeneous national character. Rather, each region and community possesses a unique musical tradition that reflects the history, language, and ethnic composition of that particular locale.[39] These traditions reflect Italy's geographic position in southern Europe and in the centre of the Mediterranean;Celtic,Slavic,Greek, andByzantine influences, as well as rough geography and the historic dominance of smallcity states, have all combined to allow diverse musical styles to coexist in close proximity.
Italian folk styles are very diverse, and includemonophonic,polyphonic, andresponsorial song, choral, instrumental and vocal music, and other styles. Choral singing and polyphonic song forms are primarily found in northern Italy, while south of Naples, solo singing is more common, and groups usually use unison singing in two or three parts carried by a single performer. Northern ballad-singing is syllabic, with a strict tempo and intelligible lyrics, while southern styles use arubato tempo, and a strained, tense vocal style.[40] Folk musicians use the dialect of their own regional tradition; this rejection of the standard Italian language in folk song is nearly universal. There is little perception of a common Italian folk tradition, and the country's folk music never became a national symbol.[41]
Folk music is sometimes divided into several spheres of geographic influence, a classification system of three regions, southern, central and northern, proposed byAlan Lomax in 1956[42] and often repeated. Additionally, Curt Sachs proposed the existence of two quite distinct kinds of folk music in Europe: continental and Mediterranean.[43] Others have placed the transition zone from the former to the latter roughly in north-central Italy, approximately betweenPesaro andLa Spezia.[44] The central, northern and southern parts of the peninsula each share certain musical characteristics, and are each distinct from themusic of Sardinia.[40]
In the Piedmontese valleys and some Ligurian communities of northwestern Italy, the music preserves the strong influence of ancientOccitania. The lyrics of the Occitanictroubadours are some of the oldest preserved samples of vernacular song, and modern bands likeGai Saber andLou Dalfin preserve and contemporize Occitan music. The Occitanian culture retains characteristics of the ancient Celtic influence, through the use of six- or seven-hole flutes (fifre) or the bagpipes (piva). Much of northern Italy shares with areas of Europe further to the north an interest in ballad singing (calledcanto epico lirico in Italian) and choral singing. Even ballads—usually thought of as a vehicle for a solo voice—may be sung in choirs. In the province of Trento "folk choirs" are the most common form of music making.[45]
Noticeable musical differences in the southern type include increased use of interval part singing and a greater variety of folk instruments. The Celtic and Slavic influences on the group and open-voice choral works of the north yield to a stronger Arabic, Greek, and North African-influenced stridentmonody of the south.[46] In parts of Apulia (Grecìa Salentina, for example) theGriko dialect is commonly used in song. The Apulian city ofTaranto is a home of thetarantella, a rhythmic dance widely performed in southern Italy. Apulian music in general, and Salentine music in particular, has been well researched and documented by ethnomusicologists and byAramirè.
Themusic of the island of Sardinia is best known for the polyphonic chanting of thetenores. The sound of thetenores recalls the roots of Gregorian chant, and is similar to but distinctive from the Liguriantrallalero. Typical instruments include thelauneddas, a Sardinian triplepipe used in a sophisticated and complex manner.Efisio Melis was a well-known masterlauneddas player of the 1930s.[47]
Italian folk songs includeballads,lyrical songs,lullabies and children's songs, seasonal songs based around holidays such as Christmas, life-cycle songs that celebrate weddings, baptisms and other important events, dance songs, cattle calls and occupational songs, tied to professions such as fishermen, shepherds and soldiers. Ballads (canti epico-lirici) and lyric songs (canti lirico-monostrofici) are two important categories. Ballads are most common in northern Italy, while lyric songs prevail further south. Ballads are closely tied to the English form, with some British ballads existing in exact correspondence with an Italian song. Other Italian ballads are more closely based on French models. Lyric songs are a diverse category that consist of lullabies, serenades and work songs, and are frequently improvised though based on a traditional repertoire.[40]
Other Italian folk song traditions are less common than ballads and lyric songs. Strophic, religiouslaude, sometimes in Latin, are still occasionally performed, andepic songs are also known, especially those of themaggio celebration. Professional female singers performdirges similar in style to those elsewhere in Europe.Yodeling exists in northern Italy, though it is most commonly associated with the folk musics of other Alpine nations. The ItalianCarnival is associated with several song types, especially the Carnival ofBagolino,Brescia. Choirs and brass bands are a part of the mid-Lenten holiday, while thebegging song tradition extends through many holidays throughout the year.[40]
Instrumentation is an integral part of all facets of Italian folk music. There are several instruments that retain older forms even while newer models have become widespread elsewhere in Europe. Many Italian instruments are tied to certain rituals or occasions, such as thezampogna bagpipe, typically heard only at Christmas.[48] Italian folk instruments can be divided intostring, wind and percussion categories.[49] Common instruments include theorganetto, an accordion most closely associated with thesaltarello; the diatonic buttonorganetto is most common in central Italy, while chromatic accordions prevail in the north. Many municipalities are home tobrass bands, which perform with roots revival groups; these ensembles are based around theclarinet, accordion, violin and small drums, adorned with bells.[40]
Italy's wind instruments include most prominently a variety of folk flutes. These include duct, globular and transverse flutes, as well as various variations of thepan flute. Double flutes are most common in Campania, Calabria and Sicily.[50] A ceramic pitcher called thequartara is also used as a wind instrument, by blowing across an opening in the narrow bottle neck; it is found in eastern Sicily and Campania. Single- (ciaramella) and double-reed (piffero) pipes are commonly played in groups of two or three.[40] Several folk bagpipes are well-known, including central Italy'szampogna; dialect names for the bagpipe vary throughout Italy--eghet inBergamo,piva inLombardy,müsa inAlessandria,Genoa,Pavia andPiacenza, and so forth.
Numerous percussion instruments are a part of Italian folk music, including wood blocks,bells,castanets, drums. Several regions have their own distinct form ofrattle, including theraganella cog rattle and the Calabrianconocchie, a spinning or shepherd's staff with permanently attached seed rattles with ritual fertility significance. The Neapolitan rattle is thetriccaballacca, made out of severalmallets in a wooden frame.Tambourines (tamburini,tamburello), as are various kinds of drums, such as thefriction drumputipù. Thetamburello, while appearing very similar to the contemporary western tambourine, is actually played with a much more articulate and sophisticated technique (influenced by Middle Eastern playing), giving it a wide range of sounds. Themouth-harp,scacciapensieri orcare-chaser, is a distinctive instrument, found only in northern Italy and Sicily.[40]
String instruments vary widely depending on locality, with no nationally prominent representative.Viggiano is home to aharp tradition, which has a historical base inAbruzzi, Lazio andCalabria. Calabria, alone, has 30 traditional musical instruments, some of which have strongly archaic characteristics and are largely extinct elsewhere in Italy. It is home to the four- or five-stringed guitar called thechitarra battente, and a three-stringed, bowed fiddle called thelira,[51] which is also found in similar forms in themusic of Crete andSoutheastern Europe. A one-stringed, bowed fiddle called thetorototela, is common in the northeast of the country. The largely German-speaking area ofSouth Tyrol is known for thezither, and theghironda (hurdy-gurdy) is found inEmilia, Piedmont andLombardy.[40]Existing, rooted and widespread traditions confirm the production of ephemeral and toy instruments made of bark, reed (arundo donax), leaves, fibers and stems, as it emerges, for example, fromFabio Lombardi's research.
Dance is an integral part of folk traditions in Italy. Some of the dances are ancient and, to a certain extent, persist today. There aremagico-ritual dances of propitiation as well as harvest dances, including the "sea-harvest" dances of fishing communities in Calabria and the wine harvest dances in Tuscany. Famous dances include the southerntarantella; perhaps the most iconic of Italian dances, thetarantella is in6
8 time, and is part of a folk ritual intended to cure the poison caused bytarantula bites. Popular Tuscan dances ritually act out the hunting of the hare, or display blades inweapon dances that simulate or recall the moves of combat, or use the weapons as stylized instruments of the dance itself. For example, in a few villages in northern Italy, swords are replaced by wooden half-hoops embroidered with green, similar to the so-called "garland dances" in northern Europe.[52] There are also dances of love and courting, such as theduru-duru dance in Sardinia.[53]
Many of these dances are group activities, the group setting up in rows or circles; some—the love and courting dances—involve couples, either a single couple or more. Thetammuriata (performed to the sound of the tambourine) is a couple dance performed in southern Italy and accompanied by a lyric song called astrambotto. Other couples dances are collectively referred to assaltarello.[40] There are, however, also solo dances; most typical of these are the "flag dances" of various regions of Italy, in which the dancer passes a town flag or pennant around the neck, through the legs, behind the back, often tossing it high in the air and catching it. These dances can also be done in groups of solo dancers acting in unison or by coordinating flag passing between dancers. Northern Italy is also home to themonferrina, an accompanied dance that was incorporated in Western art music by the composerMuzio Clementi.[40]
Academic interest in the study of dance from the perspectives of sociology and anthropology has traditionally been neglected in Italy but is currently showing renewed life at the university and post-graduate level.[54]
The earliest Italian popular music was the opera of the 19th century. Opera has had a lasting effect on Italy's classical and popular music. Opera tunes spread throughbrass bands and itinerant ensembles.Canzone Napoletana, orNeapolitan song, is a distinct tradition that became a part of popular music in the 19th century, and was an iconic image of Italian music abroad by the end of the 20th century.[40]Imported styles have also become an important part of Italian popular music, beginning with the FrenchCafé-chantant in the 1890s and then the arrival of Americanjazz in the 1910s. Until Italian Fascism became officially "allergic" to foreign influences in the late 1930s, American dance music and musicians were quite popular; jazz greatLouis Armstrong toured Italy as late as 1935 to great acclaim.[55] In the 1950s, American styles became more prominent, especially rock. The singer-songwritercantautori tradition was a major development of the later 1960s, while the Italian rock scene soon diversified intoprogressive,punk,funk and folk-based styles.[40]
Italian opera became immensely popular in the 19th century and was known across even the most rural sections of the country. Most villages had occasional opera productions, and the techniques used in opera influenced rural folk musics. Opera spread through itinerant ensembles andbrass bands, focused in a local village. These civic bands (banda communale) used instruments to perform operatic arias, withtrombones orfluegelhorns for male vocal parts andcornets for female parts.[40]
Regional music in the 19th century also became popular throughout Italy. Notable among these local traditions was theCanzone Napoletana—the Neapolitan Song. Although there are anonymous, documented songs from Naples from many centuries ago,[56] the term,canzone Napoletana now generally refers to a large body of relatively recent, composed popular music—such songs as "'O Sole Mio", "Torna a Surriento", and "Funiculì Funiculà". In the 18th century, many composers, includingAlessandro Scarlatti,Leonardo Vinci, andGiovanni Paisiello, contributed to the Neapolitan tradition by using the local language for the texts of some of theircomic operas. Later, others—most famouslyGaetano Donizetti—composed Neapolitan songs that garnered great renown in Italy and abroad.[40] The Neapolitan song tradition became formalized in the 1830s through an annual songwriting competition for the yearlyPiedigrotta festival,[57] dedicated to theMadonna of Piedigrotta, a well-known church in theMergellina area of Naples. The music is identified with Naples, but is famous abroad, having been exported on the great waves of emigration from Naples and southern Italy roughly between 1880 and 1920. Language is an extremely important element of Neapolitan song, which is always written and performed inNeapolitan,[58] the regional minority language ofCampania. Neapolitan songs typically use simple harmonies, and are structured in two sections, a refrain and narrative verses, often in contrasting relative or parallel major and minor keys.[40] In non-musical terms, this means that many Neapolitan songs can sound joyful one minute and melancholy the next.
The music ofFrancesco Tosti was popular at the turn of the 20th century, and is remembered for his light, expressive songs. His style became very popular during theBelle Époque and is often known as salon music. His most famous works areSerenata,Addio and the popular Neapolitan song,Marechiaro, the lyrics of which are by the prominent Neapolitan dialect poet,Salvatore di Giacomo.
Recorded popular music began in the late 19th century, with international styles influencing Italian music by the late 1910s; however, the rise ofautarchia, the Fascist policy of cultural isolationism in 1922 led to a retreat from international popular music. During this period, popular Italian musicians traveled abroad and learned elements ofjazz,Latin American music and other styles. These musics influenced the Italian tradition, which spread around the world and further diversified following liberalization after World War II.[40]
Under the isolationist policies of the fascist regime, which rose to power in 1922, Italy developed an insular musical culture. Foreign musics were suppressed while Mussolini's government encouraged nationalism and linguistic and ethnic purity. Popular performers, however, travelled abroad, and brought back new styles and techniques.[40] American jazz was an important influence on singers such asAlberto Rabagliati, who became known for aswinging style. Elements of harmony and melody from both jazz andblues were used in many popular songs, while rhythms often came from Latin dances like thetango,rumba andbeguine. Italian composers incorporated elements from these styles, while Italian music, especially Neapolitan song, became a part of popular music across Latin America.[40]
Film scores, although they are secondary to the film, are often critically acclaimed and very popular in their own right. Among early music for Italian films from the 1930s was the work ofRiccardo Zandonai with scores for the filmsLa Principessa Tarakanova (1937) andCaravaggio (1941). Post-war examples includeGoffredo Petrassi withNon c'e pace tra gli ulivi (1950) andRoman Vlad withGiulietta e Romeo (1954). Another well-known film composer wasNino Rota whose post-war career included the scores for films byFederico Fellini and, later,The Godfather series. Other prominent film score composers includeEnnio Morricone,Riz Ortolani andPiero Umiliani.[59]
From the 1950s through the 1970s, Italian pop music flourished with a wave of influential singers and cantautori (singer-songwriters). Early pop stars likeDomenico Modugno, famous for his international hit "Volare", helped shape Italy’s musical identity. The era also featured powerful vocalists such asMina,Mia Martini,Adriano Celentano,Claudio Baglioni,Ornella Vanoni, andPatty Pravo, who became household names and defined the sound of Italian pop.
The 1960s witnessed the rise of thecantautori tradition—singer-songwriters who often focused on poetic, political, or social themes. Pioneers of this movement includedFabrizio De André,Paolo Conte,Giorgio Gaber,Umberto Bindi,Gino Paoli, andLuigi Tenco, whose lyrics reflected the turbulent times and growing cultural consciousness.
In the 1970s, this intellectual and socially conscious songwriting deepened with artists such asLucio Dalla,Pino Daniele,Francesco De Gregori,Ivano Fossati,Francesco Guccini,Edoardo Bennato,Rino Gaetano, andRoberto Vecchioni, who carried forward the torch of lyrical sophistication and critical commentary.Lucio Battisti also emerged during this period, standing out for his innovative fusion of Italian melodic tradition withBritish rock andpop music.Lucio Battisti, from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s, merged the Italian music with the British rock and pop and, lately in his career, with genres like thesynthpop, rap,techno andEurodance, whileAngelo Branduardi andFranco Battiato pursued careers more oriented to the tradition of Italian pop music.[60] There is some genre cross-over between thecantautori and those who are viewed as singers of "protest music".[61]
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From the 1980s through the early 2000s, Italian music continued evolving, incorporating a broader range of genres and production styles. Artists such asZucchero, with his blues-influenced pop-rock, andMango, known for his melodic, Mediterranean sound, rose to prominence. The rock edge ofVasco Rossi and the powerful vocals ofGianna Nannini brought a new energy to the Italian scene.
This era also marked the rise of international superstars likeLaura Pausini, whose heartfelt ballads found global success, andAndrea Bocelli, a tenor who bridgedclassical and pop music with worldwide acclaim.
In the later part of his career,Lucio Battisti continued to innovate, blending his earlier pop-rock sound with genres likesynthpop,rap,techno, andEurodance, showing a remarkable adaptability to contemporary trends. Meanwhile, artists such asAngelo Branduardi andFranco Battiato pursued more eclectic paths, drawing from traditional Italian music, classical influences, and experimental sounds, contributing to a rich and diverse pop landscape.
Italian pop music in the 2000s managed to cross national borders thanks, among others, toLaura Pausini,Eros Ramazzotti,Zucchero,Andrea Bocelli,Tiziano Ferro, andIl Volo.[62]
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Italy has been an important country with regards toelectronic dance music, especially ever since the creation ofItalo disco in the late 1970s to early 1980s. The genre, originating fromdisco, blended "melancholy melodies" with pop andelectronic music,[63] making usage of synthesizers anddrum machines, which often gave it a futuristic sound. According to an article inThe Guardian, in cities such asVerona andMilan, producers would work with singers, using mass-made synthesizers and drum machines, and incorporating them into a mix ofexperimental music with a "classic-pop sensibility"[63] which would be aimed fornightclubs.[63] The songs produced would often be sold later by labels and companies such as the Milan-based Discomagic.[63]
Italo disco influenced several electronic groups, such as thePet Shop Boys,Erasure andNew Order,[63] as well as genres such asEurodance,Eurobeat andfreestyle. By circa 1988, however, the genre had merged into other forms of European dance and electronic music, one of which wasItalo house. Italo house blended elements of Italo disco with traditionalhouse music; its sound was generally uplifting, and made strong usage of piano melodies. Bands of this genre include:Black Box,East Side Beat, and49ers.
By the latter half of the 1990s, a subgenre of Eurodance known asItalo dance emerged. Taking influences from Italo disco and Italo house, Italo dance generally included synthesizer riffs, a melodic sound, and the usage ofvocoders. The genre became mainstream after the release of the single "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" byEiffel 65, which became one of Italy's most popular electronic groups; their albumEuropop was crowned as the greatest album of the 1990s byChannel 4.[64] Also, a subgenre of Italo dance known asLento Violento ("slow and violent") was developed byGigi D'Agostino as a much slower and harder type of music. The BPM is often reduced to the half of typical Italo dance tracks. The bass is often noticeably loud, and dominates the song.[65]
Over the years, there have been several important Italian dance music composers and producers, such asGiorgio Moroder, who won threeAcademy Awards and fourGolden Globes for his music. His work with synthesizers heavily influenced several music genres such as new wave, techno and house music;[66] he is credited byAllmusic as "One of the principal architects of the disco sound",[67] and is also dubbed the "Father of Disco".[68][69]
During theBelle Époque, the French fashion of performing popular music at thecafé-chantant spread throughout Europe.[70] The tradition had much in common withcabaret, and there is overlap betweencafé-chantant,café-concert,cabaret,music hall,vaudeville and other similar styles, but at least in its Italian manifestation, the tradition remained largely apolitical, focusing on lighter music, often risqué, but not bawdy. The firstcafé-chantant in Italy was theSalone Margherita, which opened in 1890 on the premises of the new Galleria Umberto in Naples.[71] Elsewhere in Italy, the Gran Salone Eden in Milan and the Music Hall Olympia in Rome opened shortly thereafter.Café-chantant was alternately known as the Italianizedcaffè-concerto. The main performer, usually a woman, was called achanteuse in French; the Italian term,sciantosa, is a direct coinage from the French. The songs, themselves, were not French, but were lighthearted or slightly sentimental songs composed in Italian. That music went out of fashion with the advent of World War I.
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The influence of US pop forms has been strong since the end of World War II. LavishBroadway-show numbers,Big Bands,rock and roll, andhip hop continue to be popular. Latin music, especially Brazilianbossa nova, is also popular, and the Puerto Rican genre ofreggaeton is rapidly becoming a mainstream form of dance music. It is now not uncommon for modern Italian pop artists such asLaura Pausini,Eros Ramazzotti,Zucchero orAndrea Bocelli to release some new songs in English or Spanish in addition to the original Italian versions. The groupIl Volo sings in Italian, English, Spanish and German. Thus, musical revues, which are standard fare on current Italian television, can easily go, in a single evening, from a big-band number with dancers to an Elvis impersonator to a current pop singer doing a rendition of a Puccini aria.
Jazz found its way into Europe during World War I through the presence of American musicians in military bands playingsyncopated music.[72] Yet, even before that, Italy received an inkling of new music from across the Atlantic in the form ofCreole singers and dancers who performed at the Eden Theater in Milan in 1904; they billed themselves as the "creators of thecakewalk." The first real jazz orchestras in Italy, however, were formed during the 1920s by bandleaders such as Arturo Agazzi and enjoyed immediate success.[55] In spite of the anti-American cultural policies of the Fascist regime during the 1930s, American jazz remained popular.
In the immediate post-war years, jazz took off in Italy. All American post-war jazz styles, frombebop tofree jazz andfusion have their equivalents in Italy. The universality of Italian culture ensured that jazz clubs would spring up throughout the peninsula, that all radio and then television studios would have jazz-based house bands, that Italian musicians would then start nurturing a home grown kind of jazz, based on European song forms, classical composition techniques and folk music. Currently, all Italian music conservatories have jazz departments, and there are jazz festivals each year in Italy, the best known of which is theUmbria Jazz Festival, and there areprominent publications such as the journal,Musica Jazz.
Italian pop rock has produced major stars likeZucchero, and has resulted in many top hits. The industry media, especially television, are important vehicles for such music; the television showSabato Sera is characteristic.[73] Italy was at the forefront of theprogressive rock movement of the 1970s, a style that primarily developed in Europe but also gained audiences elsewhere in the world. It is sometimes considered a separate genre,Italian progressive rock. Italian bands such asThe Trip,Area,Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM),Banco del Mutuo Soccorso,New Trolls,Goblin,Osanna,Saint Just andLe Orme incorporated a mix of symphonic rock and Italian folk music and were popular throughout Europe and the United States as well. Other progressive bands such asPerigeo,Balletto di Bronzo,Museo Rosenbach,Rovescio della Medaglia,Biglietto Per L'Inferno orAlphataurus remained little known, but their albums are today considered classics by collectors. A few avant-garde rock bands or artists (Area,Picchio dal Pozzo,Opus Avantra,Stormy Six,Saint Just,Giovanni Lindo Ferretti) gained notoriety for their innovative sound. Progressive rock concerts in Italy tended to have a strong political undertone and an energetic atmosphere. Popular Italian metal bands includeRhapsody of Fire,Lacuna Coil,Elvenking,Forgotten Tomb, andFleshgod Apocalypse.[5]
TheItalian hip hop scene began in the early 1990s withArticolo 31 fromMilan, whose style was mainly influenced byEast Coast rap. Other early hip hop crews were typically politically oriented, like99 Posse, who later became more influenced by Britishtrip hop. More recent crews includegangster rappers like Sardinia'sLa Fossa. Other recently imported styles includetechno,trance, andelectronica performed by artists includingGabry Ponte,Eiffel 65, andGigi D`Agostino.[74] Hip hop is especially liked in southern Italy, joined with the southern concept ofrispetto (respect,honor), a form of verbal jousting; both facts have helped identify southern Italian music with the African American hip hop style.[75] Additionally, there are many bands in Italy that play a style calledpatchanka, which is characterized by a mixture of traditional music, punk, reggae, rock and political lyrics.Modena City Ramblers are one of the more popular bands known for their mix of Irish, Italian, punk, reggae and many other forms of music.[74]
Italy has also become a home for a number of Mediterranean fusion projects. These includeAl Darawish, a multicultural band based in Sicily and led byPalestinian Nabil Ben Salaméh. The Luigi Cinque Tarantula Hypertext Orchestra is another example, as is the TaraGnawa project by Phaleg andNour Eddine.Mango is one of the best-known artists who fused pop withworld and mediterranean sounds, albums such asAdesso,Sirtaki andCome l'acqua are examples of his style. The Neapolitan popular singer,Massimo Ranieri has also released a CD,Oggi o dimane, of traditionalcanzone Napoletana with North African rhythms and instruments.[74]
The music industry in Italy made €2.3 billion in 2004. That sum refers to the sale of CDs, music electronics, musical instruments, and ticket sales for live performances. By way of comparison, the Italian recording industry ranks eighth in the world; Italians own 0.7 music albums per capita as opposed to the US, in first-place with 2.7.[76]
Nationwide, there are three state-run and three private TV networks. All provide live music at least some of the time. Many large cities in Italy have local TV stations, as well, which may provide live folk or dialect music often of interest only to the immediate area. The largest of these book and CD chain isFeltrinelli.
Venues for music in Italy include concerts at the manymusic conservatories, symphony halls andopera houses. Italy also has many well-known internationalmusic festivals each year, including the Festival ofSpoleto, theFestival Puccini and theWagner Festival inRavello. Some festivals offer venues to younger composers in classical music by producing and staging winning entries in competitions. The winner, for example, of the "Orpheus" International Competition for New Opera and Chamber music—besides winning considerable prize money—gets to see his or her musical work performed at The Spoleto Festival.[77] There are also dozens of privately sponsored master classes in music each year that put on concerts for the public. Italy is also a common destination for well-known orchestras from abroad; at almost any given time during the busiest season, at least one major orchestra from elsewhere in Europe or North America is playing a concert in Italy. Additionally, public music may be heard at dozens of pop and rock concerts throughout the year. Open-air opera may even be heard, for example, at the ancient Roman amphitheater, theVerona Arena.
Military bands, too, are popular in Italy. At a national level, one of the best-known of these is the concert band of theGuardia di Finanza (Italian Customs/Border Police); it performs many times a year.
Many theaters also routinely stage not just Italian translations of American musicals, but true Italian musical comedy, which are called by the English termmusical. In Italian, that term describes a kind of musical drama not native to Italy, a form that employs the American idiom of jazz-pop-and rock-based music and rhythms to move a story along in a combination of songs and dialogue.
Music in religious rituals, especially Catholic, manifests itself in a number of ways. Parish bands, for example, are quite common throughout Italy. They may be as small as four or five members to as many as 20 or 30. They commonly perform at religious festivals specific to a particular town, usually in honor of the town's patron saint. The historic orchestral/choral masterpieces performed in church by professionals are well-known; these include such works as theStabat Mater byGiovanni Battista Pergolesi and Verdi'sRequiem. TheSecond Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965 revolutionized music in the Catholic Church, leading to an increase in the number of amateur choirs that perform regularly for services; the council also encouraged the congregational singing of hymns, and a vast repertoire of new hymns has been composed in the last 40 years.[78]
There is not a great deal of native Italian Christmas music. The most popular ItalianChristmas carol is "Tu scendi dalle stelle", the modern Italian words to which were written byPope Pius IX in 1870. The melody is a major-key version of an older, minor-key Neapolitan carol "Quanno Nascette Ninno" ofAlphonsus Liguori. Other than that, Italians largely sing translations of carols that come from the German and English tradition ("Silent Night", for example). There is no native Italian secular Christmas music, which accounts for the popularity of Italian-language versions of "Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas".[79]
TheSanremo Music Festival is an important venue for popular music in Italy. It has been held annually since 1951 and is currently staged at theTeatro Ariston in Sanremo. It runs for one week in February, and gives veteran and new performers a chance to present new songs. Winning the contest has often been a springboard to industry success. The festival is televised nationally for three hours a night, is hosted by the best-known Italian TV personalities, and has been a vehicle for such performers asDomenico Modugno, perhaps the best-known Italian pop singer of the last 50 years.
Television variety shows are the widest venue for popular music. They change often, butBuona Domenica,Domenica In, andI raccomandati are popular. The longest running musical broadcast in Italy isLa Corrida, a three-hour weekly program of amateurs and would-be musicians.[80] It started on the radio in 1968 and moved to TV in 1988. The studio audience bring cow-bells and sirens and are encouraged to show good-natured disapproval. The city with the highest number of rock concerts (of national and international artists) is Milan, with a number close to the other European music capitals, as Paris, London and Berlin.
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Many institutes of higher education teach music in Italy. About 75music conservatories provide advanced training for future professional musicians. There are also many private music schools and workshops for instrument building and repair. Private teaching is also quite common in Italy. Elementary and high school students can expect to have one or two weekly hours of music teaching, generally in choral singing and basic music theory, though extracurricular opportunities are rare.[81] Though most Italian universities have classes in related subjects such as music history, performance is not a common feature of university education.
Italy has a specialized system of high schools; students attend, as they choose, a high school for humanities, science, foreign languages, or art—and music (in the "liceo musicale", where instruments, musical theory, composing and musical history are taught as the main subject). Italy does have ambitious, recent programs to expose children to more music. Furthermore, with the recent education reform a specificLiceo musicale e coreutico (2nd level secondary school, ages 14–15 to 18–19) is explicitly indicated by the law decrees.[82] Yet this kind of school has not been set up and is not effectively operational. The state-run television network has started a program to use modern satellite technology to broadcast choral music into public schools.[d]
Scholarship in the field of collecting, preserving and cataloguing all varieties of music is vast. In Italy, as elsewhere, these tasks are spread over a number of agencies and organizations. Most large music conservatories maintain departments that oversee the research connected with their own collections. Such research is coordinated on a national and international scale via the internet. One prominent institution in Italy is IBIMUS, theIstituto di Bibliografia Musicale, in Rome. It works with other agencies on an international scale through RISM, theRépertoire International des Sources Musicales, an inventory and index of source material. Also, theDiscoteca di Stato (National Archives of Recordings) in Rome, founded in 1928, holds the largest public collection of recorded music in Italy with some 230,000 examples of classical music, folk music, jazz, and rock, recorded on everything from antique wax cylinders to modern electronic media.
The scholarly study of traditional Italian music began in about 1850, with a group of early philologicalethnographers who studied the impact of music on a pan-Italian national identity. A unified Italian identity only just started to develop after the political integration of the peninsula in 1860. The focus at that time was on the lyrical and literary value of music, rather than the instrumentation; this focus remained until the early 1960s. Two folkloric journals helped to encourage the burgeoning field of study, theRivista Italiana delle Tradizioni Popolari andLares, founded in 1894 and 1912, respectively. The earliest major musical studies were on the Sardinianlauneddas in 1913–1914 byMario Giulio Fara; on Sicilian music, published in 1907 and 1921 byAlberto Favara; and studies of themusic of Emilia Romagna in 1941 byFrancesco Balilla Pratella.[40]
The earliest recordings of Italian traditional music came in the 1920s, but they were rare until the establishment of theCentro Nazionale Studi di Musica Popolare at theNational Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome. The Center sponsored numerous song collection trips across the peninsula, especially to southern and central Italy.Giorgio Nataletti was an instrumental figure in the center, and also made numerous recordings himself. The American scholarAlan Lomax and the Italian,Diego Carpitella, made an exhaustive survey of the peninsula in 1954. By the early 1960s, aroots revival encouraged more study, especially of northern musical cultures, which many scholars had previously assumed maintained little folk culture. The most prominent scholars of this era includedRoberto Leydi,Ottavio Tiby andLeo Levi. During the 1970s, Leydi and Carpitella were appointed to the first two chairs of ethnomusicology at universities, with Carpitella at theUniversity of Rome and Leydi at theUniversity of Bologna. In the 1980s, Italian scholars began focusing less on making recordings, and more on studying and synthesizing the information already collected. Others studied Italian music in the United States and Australia, and the folk musics of recent immigrants to Italy.[40]
This record was a collaboration between Philip Oakey, the big-voiced lead singer of the techno-pop band the Human League, and Giorgio Moroder, the Italian-born father of disco who spent the '80s writing synth-based pop and film music.
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