The ''cantu a chiterra'' ( Sardinian for "singing with guitar") is a typical

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

n form of

monophonic Monaural sound or monophonic sound (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce sou ...

singing in

Sardinian language Sardinian or Sard ( , , , , or , ) is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken by the Sardinians on the Western Mediterranean island of Sardinia. The original character of the Sardinian language among the Romance idioms has long been know ...

and

Gallurese Gallurese () is a Romance languages, Romance dialect of the Italo-Dalmatian languages, Italo-Dalmatian family spoken in the region of Gallura, northeastern Sardinia. Gallurese is variously described as a distinct southern dialect of Corsican lang ...

, accompanied by a '' chiterra sarda'', or Sardinian guitar. This type of song is particularly prevalent in the northern part of the island; in particular in the

Logudoro The Logudoro (; ) is a large historical region Sardinia, Italy. It is the namesake of the Logudorese dialect of Sardinian language, Sardinian, which covers a large area of northern-central Sardinia. The first denomination of the area is contai ...

Goceano The Goceano () is a historical and geographical region of center-north of Sardinia island, Italy. It covers a surface of 480 km2 and has a population of 13,000 inhabitants (27 inhabitants/km2). It is located inside the Province of Sassari, ...

, Planargia and

Gallura Gallura ( or ; ) is a region in North-Eastern Sardinia, Italy. The name ''Gallùra'' is allegedly supposed to mean "stony area". Geography Gallùra has an area of . It is from the Italian peninsula and from the French island of Corsica. ...

. Very likely, some of the songs existed before the invention of the guitar, for example, '' Cantu in re '' (Song in D), but with the advent of the instrument they have developed different variations.

Competitions

After centuries of existing in familiar setting, the ''cantu a chiterra'' also developed during the twentieth century as a singing competition, with the guitar (''sa gara''), taking place in front of an audience, usually at religious festivals, in forms that are still in place. The ''gara'' is a musical competition where two or three singers, accompanied by a guitarist, compete with their improvisations on pre-established musical themes to show the quality of their performance. Bernard Lortat-Jacob, ''Improvisation et modèle : le chant à guitare sarde'',

L'Homme ''L'Homme. Revue française d'anthropologie'', is a French anthropological journal established in 1961 by Émile Benveniste, Pierre Gourou, and Claude Lévi-Strauss at the École pratique des hautes études, as a French counterpart to ''Man'' ...

, 1984, tome 24, n ° 1. The competition requires that each ''cantadore'' (singer) performs one verse at a time, alternating with the other competitors (usually being assigned three stanzas each). The musical reference model (variant) is not a form fully and completely defined, but rather a set of pre-established forms of musical structures (

meter The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

) relatively undefined. So that is it allowed to each ''cantadore'' to improvise at will on the model of reference.

Performers

Some of the best known performers are: * Gavino De Lunas (

Padria Padria is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari on the Italian island of Sardinia, located about northwest of Cagliari and about south of Sassari. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 785 and an area of .All demographi ...

, 1895 –

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, 1944) *

Maria Carta Maria Carta (24 June 1934 – 22 September 1994) was a Sardinian folk music singer-songwriter. She also performed in film and theatre. In 1975 she wrote a book of poetry, ''Canto rituale'' (Ritual Song). Throughout her 25-year career she cove ...

(

Siligo Siligo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the region of Logudoro - Meilogu in the Province of Sassari in the Italy, Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Siligo borders the following municipalit ...

, 1934 –

, 1994) *

Francesco Demuro Francesco Demuro (born 6 January 1978), is an Italian operatic tenor who made an international career. Life and career Demuro was born in Porto Torres, Sardinia. By the age of ten, Demuro made his first stage appearance, and by the age of twelv ...

(

Porto Torres Porto Torres (; ) is a (municipality) and a city of the Province of Sassari in north-west of Sardinia, Italy. Founded during the 1st century BC as , it was the first Roman colony of the entire Sardinia, island. It is situated on the coast at abo ...

, 1978)

Bibliography

Gavino Gabriel Gavino Gabriel ( Tempio Pausania, 1881 – Rome, 1980) was an Italian composer, ethnomusicologist scholar of Sardinian music, especially that of Gallura, and has written and published many essays on the subject. Biography and career In 1905 h ...

, ''Canti di Sardegna'', Milano, 1923 * Bernard Lortat-Jacob, ''Improvisation et modèle: le chant a guitare sarde'' , in «

», XXIV, 1, 1984. * Francesco Gianattasio – Bernard Lortat-Jacob, Modalità di improvvisazione nella musica sarda, Culture musicali n.1, 1982, pp. 3/36 * Bernard Lortat-Jacob, ''Voci di Sardegna'', Torino, 1999, * Paolo Angeli. ''Canto in Re, la gara a chitarra nella Sardegna settentrionale'', ISRE, Nuoro, 2006.

References

Music in Sardinia {{music-genre-stub

Competitions

Performers

Bibliography

See also

References