S'Abba 'e Cantareddu

Description

PRESENTATION

The Choir of Ozieri exhibits the most characteristic and popular melody of Sardinian singing folklore in one of the key songs (n.d.a. S'abba 'e Cantareddu) that characterise our country. The 'singing voice is followed by the chord of the singers who weave a series of chords with impossible passages and a suggestiveness to which the greatest musicians have bowed as if in front of something sacred. Its singers brought the first truly genuine note with S'abba 'e Cantareddu, a piece in which the full harmony and the frank instinctive musicality that characterises the Sardinian 'cantatas' of festive evenings appeared>>.
This is how the island's newspapers expressed themselves in the late 1950s and early 1960s for
highlight the originality and musicality of the Ozieri Chants. Indeed, it is no coincidence that fifty years ago, seven Ozieri singers were chosen to perform the Choral Chant in Ozieri in the presence of Pius XI. Today, the Choir of Ozieri fits perfectly into the original ethnophonic line, made up of elements popular with the common people, transmitted by tradition
oral but also of more specifically cultured elements, interpenetrated, however, in the popular soul
ozierese particularly imbued with savoury irony and an often desecrating satire.
The new songs are oriented towards the search for a New Identity. A New Identity that is no longer crystallised and static, almost a mirror of itself, but in continuous movement and in the discovery of new individual and social contributions and contacts with the outside world and with the contemporary.
This is why in this first recording of the Ozieri Choir, which coincides with the tenth anniversary of its re-foundation, two songs appear: Sancta Mater Maria and Oh Maria, which are not properly part of the Sardinian tradition but reflect the religiousness of the Sardinians and their veneration for the Mother of Christ. The symbiosis between contemporary learned poetry and the
spirit of the Canto Popolare Ozierese and Sardinian in general, respecting ancient singing traditions, has contributed to the success of new songs and more current harmonisations. Sa Carrela 'e s'amore, a song in which even love is remembered with sadness. Sad too is the road in
where lovers passed, hand in hand, enchanted and dreaming. Su trinta de su mese 'e Sant'Andria, In a society such as the Sardinian one, which is predominantly egalitarian, wine is the element that breaks down social barriers, that unites peasants and country people, and around the barrels
filonzane' and poetry are sung. Sa este noa, a cloth dress, symbolises wealth and a certain social elevation. Youth passes amid the troubles, the bad years, the high
rents and damages of various kinds, but the promise of the cloth robe remains only a wish and fades like water into steam. Ammentos de Ajania, the memories of good friends, of great drinks of black and white from the vineyards of the Ozieri hills, of serenades to girls
with a modulated voice, seems to want to alleviate the sad condition of the peasant. The invocation of Su Patriottu Sardu a sos feudatarios has become universalised over time, breaking down the narrow
boundaries of isolation, penetrating the soul of all Sardinians to the point of becoming a symbol of rebellion against all forms of tyranny and oppression. Sos Ibbavados, for the Piedmontese to wear a long beard was uncivilised and was a symbol of less than honest feelings. Su Duru-Duru whose archaic rhythm and untranslatable onomatopoeic sounds are lost in the mists of time and gives the measure of the importance that Sardinian civilisation has always reserved for children, but also for dance
collective. S'abba 'e Cantareddu, a popular responsorial song like Sos ibbavados. The water from the spring reaches every home as the village slanders and malignancies.
With this first recording, the Coro Città di Ozieri wants to make its contribution, as well as
convey a message that they hope will not go unheard, so that Ozierese singing folklore does not remain a heritage doomed to oblivion by modernity at all costs.
September 1987
GAVINO CONTU

ALBUM TRACKS

1. S'abba 'e Cantareddu
2. Sos ibbavados
3. Sa este noa
4. Oh Maria
5. Su patriotu sardu a sos feudatarios
6. Ammentos de ajanìa
7. Sa carrela 'e s'amore
8. Su trinta de su mese 'e Sant'Andria
9. A duru duru
10. Holy Mother Mary

LISTEN TO SOME TRACKS

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LINKS

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