Trallalero is a kind of

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

folk music from the

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

n region of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is traditionally performed by men, though there have been some female performers in the modern era. The name derives from the monosyllabic

vocable In the broadest sense of the word, a vocable (from ) is any identifiable utterance or writing, such as a word or term, that is fixed by their language and culture. The use of the term for words in the broad sense is archaic and the term is instea ...

s (non-lexical vocalizations), ''tra-la-le-ro'', which feature heavily in the repertoire of the groups or ''Squadre''. These are typically sections of songs without words during which the melody is sung on nonsense syllables. In the 1950s, American

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...

and Diego Carpitella recorded trallalero. Lomax later claimed he was blown away, and called it the most significant work in his long and storied career. Edward Neill worked to revitalize the tradition in the middle of the 20th century, with a wide range of works by musicologist Mauro Balma making up the majority of modern academic study on the subject. Trallalero groups consist of

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

parts, accompanied by a

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

and a singer whose voice imitates a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(''chitarra''). As the names of parts suggest, the imitation of instrumental styles replaces traditional vocal polyphony: this is a distinguishing feature of this genre. Nine singers are considered a normal line-up: one each of chitarra, tenor, contralto, baritone and five basses, although sometimes groups can be significantly larger. In these larger groups basses are often divides into three sections: the ''bassi profondi'' or 'deep basses' who are usually limited to the long sounds or drones, the ''bassi alti''or 'high basses' who are similar to the deep basses but, as the name suggests, sing a slightly higher melody during certain sections of the songs, and the 'bassi cantabili' or 'singable basses' who typically sing a higher, more complex melody and often provide a rhythmic counterpoint to the other bass parts.Mauro Balma, ‘Lexicon of multipart singing in Liguria and in the area of the Four Provinces (Apennine of the provinces of Genoa, Alessandria, Pavia and Piacenza — Italy)’ in European Voices II : Cultural Listening and Local Discourse in Multipart Singing Traditions in Europe ed. Ardian Ahmedaja (Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 2011) p. 375-380. Online at: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/34353 ccessed 04/07/22 Group harmony in Liguria is historically associated with mountain villages, where two voices (usually a tenor and a baritone) sung over accompaniment by bass or drone. A repertoire of traditional songs evolved over time, and the style moved to the docks of Genoa, a noted port city. There, metal-workers, longshoremen and stevedores sang Trallalero, with the practice peaking in the first three decades of the 20th century. Some Trallalero groups are still practicing in Genoa and Liguria, and can be usually seen performing at the annual ''Le vie dei canti'' festival in the winter months.

References

External links

* recordings by

, with much background information. * For the ''Le vie dei canti'' festival see: https://www.leviedeicantifestival.it/ {{Authority control Culture in Genoa Music of Liguria Italian folk music