Celtic Music in Italy

» ab3838 - Celtic Music In Italy

Maybe this is slightly off the subject, but I'm not so sure Celtic is the best adjective for the music we identify as Celtic music.
I have heard traditional Italian music that sounds basically the same as traditional Celtic music. I recommend the "Rough Guide to the Music of Italy" to anyone interested in Italian folk music. You can buy a copy at amazon.com or many music stores. I believe that I have read that Celtic Music's roots can be traced back to a time period more so than a people (I think it was the 13th century.) Its to bad we couldn't call it 13th century music.
Furthermore, the bagpipes were an invention of the people of the Middle East, and first brought to Europe by Italians/Romans.
And to this day, one of the worlds best bagpiping festivals is held annually in Scampoli, Italy.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

-- posted by ab3838

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» swg - Re: Celtic Music In Italy

In response to message posted by ab3838:
Thanks for your comments ab3838. Are you saying that what we in the UK at least regard as Celtic - that is Irish, Scottish, Breton, etc - is similar to early Italian music? You may well be right. I will ask my friend Alfredo if he would like to comment on this as I am not familiar with Italian music.

-- posted by swg

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» alfstone - Re: Celtic Music In Italy

In response to message posted by ab3838:

***
Hello from Sicily... :-)
First of all I apologize for my poor English.

Going to the message, there would be a lot of things to say...
Celtic music...is it something "real" or not? Probably it would be better to talk about Irish, Scottish, Breton music and so on. I found very interesting the answer I received by Sean Laffey, the Editor of Irish Music Magazine, to my question about "Celtic" music. Following are his words:

"Some would see the term Celtic Music as being devoid of any true musicological connection or coherence; it being a marketing gimmick to lump music from the Celtic countries together. However, there are some strong inner connections in the Celtic countries, so Irish and Scots music are very close, because they shared a similar culture, language and economy for many years (there was a regular interchange between Northern Irish and Scottish musicians for centuries). Then there are related immigrant traditions in North America, such as the Gaelic communities in Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, and there have been Celtic influences both from Maritime Canada and New England in the Acadian music of Quebec. Irish session music in the USA is also conservative as is Scots music in Nova Scotia, which means these are often the best places to hear old style authentic music.
American Country music has some Celtic Character in that many (but certainly not all) of its folk song and dance music history comes from “Scots/Irish sources.” I have heard Americans lump all British Isles music together as “Celtic” which is profoundly untrue, as a great deal of English Music is Germanic in character. But cultures are not static, and one interesting example is the rise of “Bush Bands” in Australia. In the early '70s, when Irish musicians met up with Australian Folk singers, a new kind of Australian Celtic music developed. To the detriment of true Australian folk music, which was Anglo-German, reels, jigs and Irish style polka replaced the Waltzes and Versovianas of the Australian settlers.
The Celtic countries of Brittany, Asturias and Wales have had less cultural contact than Ireland and Scotland so their Celtic music is farther apart and more local."

The whole interview, very long and anteresting, is here:

http://www.celticcafe.com/Music/SeanLaff...

Now, I mostly share Sean's opinion. You may find links more (or less!) solid among the music of Celtic origin...
If it should be called 13th Century music...I really don't know, but I don't think so, since we don't know so much about the origins of this music: no written songs, as far as I know, and most of the repertoire of today's Irish music comes from the recordings that were done in the beginning of the 20th Century in the States!
And I still remember the words of Mairtin O'Connor in an interview, a couple of years ago, when he talked about very strong links between sean-nos singing and some North-African singing...
I mean, if we look at the traditional musics of the world looking for some points of contact among them, we'll surely find them. And even more in the case of Regions geographically very near, such as Italy (Northern Italy) and the other "Celtic" regions.
So, nothing strange that "some" of the traditional music of Italy can sound very near to "Celtic" music: many are the bands in Northern Italy whose music will present a more or less strong flavor of "Celtic" (...or Breton, or Irish...) music. By contrast, probably you will not find "Celtic" music in the Southern Italy music.
As far as I know, it's true that the bagpipes come from the Middle East, and it's also true that one of the best bagpipes (in Italian it's called "zampogna") festivals in the world is in Scapoli. Here is the link to the website of the town:

http://www.comunescapoli.is.it/

Ciao a tutti!
Alfredo

-- posted by alfstone

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