7th Framework Programme ICT - Information and Communication Technologies A system for making music The forms of canto a tenore Paolo Bravi, Marco Lutzu, Sebastiano Pilosu The videos contained in this presentation are the property of Associazione Tenores Sardegna - Sòtziu Tenores Sardigna

 When one sings a tenore one is not singing some more or less well known songs, with music and lyrics, to be reinterpreted. Indeed in canto a tenore there are no fixed links between music and lyrics, and neither are there any standard melodies to go by.  The singers have a system made of simple macrostructures that allow them to create melodies and interpret poetic texts in an original and always varied way.  There are three main forms of canto: boghe ‘e note boghe ‘e note boghe ‘e ballu boghe ‘e ballu mutos mutos

Boghe ‘e note  Sa boghe ‘e note (which literally means sung at night, i.e. night song) is probably the most important way of singing; it allows interpretation of countless poetic texts in an ever changing way, through interpretative choices by sa boghe and the other su tenore singers.  In boghe ‘e note one sings poetic texts made up of hendecasyllable verses, sometimes alternated with septenary (seven-syllable) verses, organised in the numerous strophic forms that the Sardinian poetry tradition presents.  The texts come from collections of poems written by the most important Sardinian poets of the last three centuries, from the improvised poetry garas that liven the local celebrations and that make up an immense corpus of works for the singers, and otherwise one is dealing with poetic texts of oral tradition, relatively short, without an author, that are known and sung.

Boghe ‘e note  Sa boghe ‘e note is made up of two internal sections called istèrrida istèrrida zirada (these are the most common terms used). zirada (these are the most common terms used).  Su tenore, led by sa boghe, combines them from time to time depending on the text, the singers’ taste, the context and the function that each performance fulfills.  Very roughly speaking the singing starts with one or more istèrridas and then introduces several ziradas.

S’istèrrida  S’istèrrida is introduced by the soloist of sa boghe who normally sings two, three or four verses, performing a melody with a free rhythm, a melody based on the canons of sa moda of the village but that depends on su traju (the personal style) of the singer.  His song ends with the root note of the chord that will be reached by the intervention of the other three parts, su tenore. This note is called su puntu.  As sa boghe ends his song, su tenore intervenes alternating with him and creating a chord maintained and repeated at length, once or twice depending on sa moda of the village.  Also the movements of the single parts are characteristic of sa moda, even though they have variations that depend on the interpretation of the individual singer or on the interaction with the other two.

Orune: A boche longa  In Orune, one village of Sardinia, s’istèrrida is called boche longa Sa boghe sings two or more lines Intervention of su tenore After the singing of sa boghe, su tenore performs a sustained chord which can be subdivided into two parts similar to each other, the first decidedly longer than the second.  In a song the number of sas istèrridas is variable, often one or two are sung at the start of the piece.  Just as often the song ends with one or two istèrridas.  More rarely one sings some istèrridas in the middle of the performance.  It can also happen that a song is made up only of istèrridas. In this case it is known as a boche longa.

Sa Zirada  The second section of sa boghe ‘e note is commonly known as sa zirada.  There are two aspects that most evidently distinguish it from s’istèrrida: the rhythm the rhythm the partial overlapping of the voices of su tenore and sa boghe the partial overlapping of the voices of su tenore and sa boghe

Sa Boghe ‘e note in Orune  The ways of performing sa zirada are diverse and change from one village to another depending on the local moda.  Take for example the boghe ‘e note in Orune. Normally sa boghe, once ended s’istèrrida (in Orune boche longa), to pass to sa zirada introduces in his singing a rhythmic evolution singing a hendecasyllable verse for a soloist; Normally sa boghe, once ended s’istèrrida (in Orune boche longa), to pass to sa zirada introduces in his singing a rhythmic evolution singing a hendecasyllable verse for a soloist; Always through a rhythmic articulation, he sings a second hendecasyllable and normally on the sixth syllable of this (only sometimes on the seventh or on the successive ones) su tenore intervenes (bassu, contra and mesu boghe) and accompanies the singing of the second hemistich of the verse performing repeated chords called corfos (we will call this part zirada 1). Always through a rhythmic articulation, he sings a second hendecasyllable and normally on the sixth syllable of this (only sometimes on the seventh or on the successive ones) su tenore intervenes (bassu, contra and mesu boghe) and accompanies the singing of the second hemistich of the verse performing repeated chords called corfos (we will call this part zirada 1).

Sa Boghe ‘e Note in Orune  After a brief measured pause, sa boghe begins singing again and this time su tenore accompanies him starting from the third or fourth syllable (depending on where the stress of the line falls) of the hendecasyllable verse, until the end of the same.  This final part, which we can define as zirada 2, may be repeated one or more times, even numerous times, on the basis of the stylistic choices of sa boghe.  However, at any time sa boghe may interrupt this sequence picking up the rhythmic soloist voice that introduces sas ziradas and thus starting again from zirada 1 which will always be performed just once to pass straight away to zirada 2.  This cyclical system may be broken up by inserting one or more istèrridas.  In the case in which the composition also has seven-syllable verses (settenari), sa boghe repeats a part of the seven-syllable verse to bring it up to the length of a hendecasyllable verse.

Sas Ziradas Sa boghe sings a hendecasyllable verse Sa boghe sings a hendecasyllable verse - Zirada 1 Sa boghe sings a hendecasyllable verse - Zirada 2 Intervention of su tenore T EMPOT EMPO Example: ORUNE Boche ‘e NoteORUNE Boche ‘e Note

From Sa Boghe Longa to Sa Zirada  Another way used in Orune to pass from sa boche longa to sa zirada is the following: when su tenore enters sa boche longa with the long initial passage, sa boghe may sing upon su tenore introducing the rhythmic evolution in the way of zirada 2; su tenore then follows him supporting his wish to change the song. Example: Tenore Nunnale 1min. 13” – 1min. 17” Tenore NunnaleTenore Nunnale