Glossary of Italian Music - Songs, Formats and Pieces

Songs, Formats and Pieces

• addio padre: A post-war political song
• ajri: A form of Albanian-Calabrian multi-part song
• asprese: A form of multi-part song from Lazio
• banda comunale: A local, civic band
• a bandieri bella: A form of Calabrian secular multi-part song
• baride: Sicilian brass bands
• basso: A kind of song in Dignano
• bei: A kind of Tuscan polyphony, especially known near Monte Amiata, also bei-bei
• bitinada: A singing style for three men, most common in Rovigno in Istria
• boare: work songs
• canti alla boara: A kind of lyric song associated with the cantaustorie
• buiasche: A kind of polyphonic song from the village of Bogli
• butunada: A song form peculiar to Rovigno
• camminareccia: A piece of wedding music in the sonata per la sposa of Alta Sabina
• canzone a ballo: A dance song
• canzone Italiana: Italian song
• canzone Napoletana: A kind of popular song from Naples, Neapolitan song
• canzune: A Sicilian term for lyric songs
• canti a catoccu: A kind of lyric song
• canti carnascialeschi: Carnival songs
• cepranese: A form of multi-part song from Lazio
• cioparedda: A form of Calabrian multi-part song
• concertini: Small, violin-based ensembles most common in Emilia, Bagolino and Resia
• canto a coppia': A kind of central Italian two-part singing similar to canti a vatoccu
• cozzupara: A form of Calabrian multi-part song
• canto a dispetto: A Tuscan term, song of the despised, equivalent to canto a vatoccu
• endecasillabo: A central Italian song form with phrases of eleven syllables
• canti alla falciatora: Scything songs
• fogli volanti: Printed popular songs called in English broadsides, most commonly used for Italian ballads
• giustiniane: A kind of popular historic song, named after Leonardo Giustiniani
• laude: Strophic songs, often in Latin
• canti lirici: Italian lyric songs, or canto lirico-monostrifici
• canti alla longa: A kind of lyric song
• maggi a serenata: A maggio love song
• maggio della anime purganti: A maggio song for the souls in Purgatory
• maggio delle ragazze: A maggio song for young girls
• maggio drammatico: A music and drama celebration held during maggio
• maitinade: A kind of dance song, most common in Trento; it is composed of six-line stanzas of eleven syllables per line
• mantignada: A song form peculiar to Sissano
• metitora: A form of two-part song from Lazio
• canti alla mietitora: Harvesting songs
• mondine: A kind of rural, woman's folk song
• canto alla monmarella: work songs
• montasolina: A form of multi-part song from Lazio
• ninna nanna: A folk lullaby
• a oli oledda: A form of Calabrian multi-part song
• orazioni: A kind of Sicilian narrative folk song
• canti degli orbi: A kind of Sicilian narrative folk song, associated with blind musicians
• orologio della passione: An alternate term, used in musical collections, for the canto della passione
• ottava rima: An eight line song, most common in Central Italy, especially Lazio, Tuscany and Abruzzo
• pajarella: A form of Lazio multi-part song
• canto della passione: A central Italian begging song, performed before Easter, also known as orologio della passione (clock of the passion)
• alla pennese: A kind of two-part singing from Lazio, similar to canti a vatoccu
• canto a pennese: A work song
• canti a pera: A kind of lyric song from Gallesano
• piagnereccia: A piece of wedding music in the sonata per la sposa of Alta Sabina
• poeti contadini: An alternate term, peasant poets, for ottava rima
• polesane: A kind of dance song
• canti de questua: Begging songs
• recchia: A kind of central Italian two-part singing similar to canti a vatoccu
• a recchione: A form of multi-part song from Lazio
• a reuta: A form of Lazian multi-part song
• rispetti: A kind of lyric song
• a rosabella: A form of Calabrian multi-part song
• serenata: A love song
• sonata per la sposa: A musical ritual from Alta Sabina
• sonetto: A lyrical form consisting of four lines of seven syllables
• canti alla stesa: A kind of lyric song
• stornelli: A kind of solo lyric song, from the Provençal estorn, to challenge
• stornello: A Sicilian folk song
• storia: A kind of southern, long song
• strambotti: A kind of lyric song, from the Provençal estribar, to lash
• stranotti: A kind of lyric song
• strina: A form of Calabrian multi-part song
• tenores: Sardinian polyphonic chant
• testamenti: A kind of Carnival song
• tiir: A kind of polyphonic song from Premana in Lombardy
• trallalero: A kind of Genoese polyphony
• 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
• verolana: A form of multi-part song from Lazio
• villanella: A form of Calabrian multi-part song
• villotte: A kind of lyric song with verses of 8 or 11 syllables
• a voca regolare: A form of Calabrian multi-part song
• a voca diritta: A form of Calabrian multi-part song
• vjersh: A form of Albanian multi-part song found in Calabria and Basilicata