Tenores di Bitti
Encyclopedia
The Tenores di Bitti are a traditional folk music group from Bitti
, Sardinia
who employ a polyphonic vocal style, often described as a type of overtone singing
, whose oral tradition
dates back to 3000 BC .
The Tenores di Bitti are considered one of the best and most traditional groups in Sardinia. They extemporize or perform poems with each singer taking one of four parts: boke, bassu, contra, or mea'oke. Boke is the soloist
and provides melody
, bassu is the root
and provides the tonic
, contra provides the fifth
, and mea'oke provides the octave
above the fifth, filling out an chord
in just intonation
. There are in Bitti more "a tenore" groups and the most famous are Tenores di Bitti Mialinu Pira
and Tenores di Bitti remunnu 'e Locu. Piero Sanna and Daniele Cossellu alternate boke and mesa 'oke on different songs while on all songs Tancredi Tucconi and Mario Pira take contra and bassu respectively.
Their album S'amore 'e mama includes the ambient noises of the various recording locations in Bitti including churches, streets, canteens, bars, countryside, and "nuraghe
".
Bitti
Bitti is a comune in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 140 km north of Cagliari and about 20 km north of Nuoro....
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
who employ a polyphonic vocal style, often described as a type of overtone singing
Overtone singing
Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...
, whose oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
dates back to 3000 BC .
The Tenores di Bitti are considered one of the best and most traditional groups in Sardinia. They extemporize or perform poems with each singer taking one of four parts: boke, bassu, contra, or mea'oke. Boke is the soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
and provides melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, bassu is the root
Root (chord)
In music theory, the root of a chord is the note or pitch upon which a triadic chord is built. For example, the root of the major triad C-E-G is C....
and provides the tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
, contra provides the fifth
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...
, and mea'oke provides the octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
above the fifth, filling out an chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
in just intonation
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
. There are in Bitti more "a tenore" groups and the most famous are Tenores di Bitti Mialinu Pira
Tenores di Bitti "Mialinu Pira"
Tenore di Bitti "Mialinu Pira" is a cantu a tenore Italian ensemble formed in 1995. Cantu a tenore is a style of polyphonic folk singing characteristic of the Barbagia region of the island of Sardinia , even though some other Sardinian sub-regions bear examples of such tradition...
and Tenores di Bitti remunnu 'e Locu. Piero Sanna and Daniele Cossellu alternate boke and mesa 'oke on different songs while on all songs Tancredi Tucconi and Mario Pira take contra and bassu respectively.
Their album S'amore 'e mama includes the ambient noises of the various recording locations in Bitti including churches, streets, canteens, bars, countryside, and "nuraghe
Nuraghe
The nuraghe is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture, the Nuragic civilization...
".
Recordings
- Tenores di Bitti Remunnu 'e Locu: S'amore 'e mama ["Mother's Love"]. Real World.
- Tenores di Bitti "Mialinu Pira"Tenores di Bitti "Mialinu Pira"Tenore di Bitti "Mialinu Pira" is a cantu a tenore Italian ensemble formed in 1995. Cantu a tenore is a style of polyphonic folk singing characteristic of the Barbagia region of the island of Sardinia , even though some other Sardinian sub-regions bear examples of such tradition...
: Su monte 'e mesus. RBS 1998