Testi poetici in lira nel canto a quattro della tradizione sarda

Marco Lutzu

2023-01-01

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Abstract

Several genres of Sardinian traditional music are characterised by the intonation, by the singers, of lyrics composed by the most famous poets of island literature (Paolo Mossa, Peppino Mereu, Antioco Casula etc.). The metres used vary depending on the musical genre and type of song, with a prevalence of septenaries, octosyllabaries or endecasyllables. There are also some rare singing modes, localised in specific areas of the island, that involve the intonation of stanzas ‘in lira’, alternating septenaries and endecasyllables, which this article intends to focus on. After presenting some examples of a tenore and a cuncordu singing, the essay analyses the ways in which text and music interact, focusing on how this particular metrical form contributes to shaping the musical form.