Italian music terminology consists of words and phrases used in the discussion of the music of Italy. Some Italian music terms are derived from the common Italian language. Others come from Spanish, or Neapolitan, Sicilian, Sardinian or other regional languages of Italy. The terms listed here describe a genre, song form, dance, instrument, style, quality of music, technique or other important aspect of Italian music.[1][2]
Dances
alessandrina: A skipping dance from the area around Pavia[1]
alta danza: Early Spanish name for the saltarello[3]
argismo: A Sicilian term for the tarantella healing ritual, from argia, spider[2]
russiano: A folk dance, said to originate in Russi[4]
sa seria: A Sardinian folk dance[5]
saltarella: A variant name for the saltarello[2]
saltarelle: A variant name for the saltarello[3]
saltarello: A widespread, leaping folk dance, originally in 3/4 time, and later in 3/8 and 6/8, derived from a court dance that evolved from the galliarde and was originally known in Spain as the alta danza, from saltare, to leap[3]
savatarelle: A variant name for the saltarello[2]
sos gocios: A Sardinian folk dance[5]
sos mutos: A Sardinian folk dance[5]
sposina: A skipping dance for brides from the area around Pavia[1]
stuzzichetto: A variant name for the saltarello[2]
su ballu: Popular Sardinian dances[9]
ta matianowa: A folk dance[1]
ta palacowa: A folk dance[1]
ta panawa: A folk dance[1]
tammorriata or tammuriata: A Campanian couple dance, accompanied by lyric songs called strambotti and tammorra tambourines[10]
tarantel: An alternate term for the tarantella[11]
tarantella: A couple dance in 6/8 time, intended to cure the supposedly poisonous bite of the tarantula[11]
tarantismo: An Apulian term for the tarantella healing ritual[9]
tarantolati: The tarantella ritual as it is practiced in Puglia[6][9]
tarentella: An alternate term for the tarantella[11]
tarentule: An alternate term for the tarantella[11]
canti a vatoccu: A kind of polyphonic lyric song, usually for two to three women, songs in the manner of a bell clapper, most common in Umbria, and the Apennines of Abruzza and the Marche[1][2]
verolana: A form of multi-part song from Lazio[17]
villanella: A form of Calabrian multi-part song[17]
villotte: A kind of lyric song with verses of 8 or 11 syllables[1][2]
a voca regolare: A form of Calabrian multi-part song[17]
a voca diritta: A form of Calabrian multi-part song[17]
vjersh: A form of Albanian multi-part song found in Calabria and Basilicata[9][17]
Techniques
accordo: A multi-part singing technique, also canto ad accordo[17]
basci: The bass voice in a trallalero ensemble[13]
bassu: The bass voice of the Sardinian tenores[9]
boghe: The lead vocalist of a Sardinian tenores ensemble[9]
chitarra: A guitar, also a voice in trallalero ensembles that imitates the guitar[13]
contra: The counter-vocalist of the Sardinian tenores[9]
controbasso: The baritone vocalist of the trallalero tradition[13]
contrubassu: Alternate term for controbasso, the baritone vocalist of the trallalero tradition[13]
mamutones: Masked performers in processions in Mamoiada in Sardinia[1]
scacciamarzo: A spring holiday[2]
sega la vecchia: An old mid-Lent ceremony, the sawing of the witch[2]
tarantate: Women who had been supposedly poisoned by the tarantula bite, and intended to cure themselves through the tarantella ritual[2]
tratto marzo: A spring holiday[2]
urlatori: A shouter, an expressive vocalist[2]
la vecchia: A carnevale ritual from Pontelangiorno[4]
veglie: A central Italian musical gathering[1]
References
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqarasatauavawaxayazbabbbcbdbebfbgbhbibjbkblbmbnboNew Grove Encyclopedia of Music, pp 637–680
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqarasatauavawaxayazbabbbcbdbebfbgbhbibjKeller, Marcello Sorce, Roberto Catalano and Giuseppina Colicci, "Italy" in the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, pp 604–625
^ abcd"Saltarello". StreetSwing's Dance History Archives. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abcdefghijklmn"Italian Treasury - Alan Lomax Collection". Musical Traditions Internet Magazine. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abcdefghijklmn"Il coro a tenores CULTURA POPOLARE di Neoneli". Isolasarda. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abcd"Workshops". Musicantica. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abcde"Furlana". StreetSwing's Dance History Archives. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ ab"Galliarde". Street Swing's Dance History Archives. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstSurian, Allessio, "Tenores and Tarantellas", in the Rough Guide to World Music, pp 189–201
^"International Dance Glossary". World Music Central. Archived from the original on July 11, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abcd"La Tarantella". StreetSwing's Dance History Archives. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^Mario Sarica, Strumenti Musicali Popolari in Sicilia, Assessorato alla cultura, Provincia di Messina 1994. Excerpted in Il Flauto in Sicilia (in Italian)
^ abcdef"A LAVAGNA CANTI E RIME DAL TRALLALERO AL SUD ITALIA". Prono Provincia Notizie (in Italian). Archived from the original on May 12, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abcdLevy, "Italian Music" in the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, pp 860–864
^"Accordion History in Italy". Accordions.com. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abcde"Glossary of Folk Musical Instruments & Styles from Around the World". Hobgoblin Info Source. Retrieved April 20, 2006.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwAntonello Ricci. "Multivocal music in Central and Southern Italy". Detailed Maps on the Spreading of Multipart Singing in the Balkans and in the Mediterranean. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^"Sicilian Folklife". Italian Los Angeles. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
^ abMonti, Giangilberto; Veronica Di Pietro. Dizionario dei cantautori. Retrieved July 15, 2006.