(LAS 7343)

THE BAGPIPE IN ITALY

If we take into consideration the actual diffusion and use of the bagpipe in Europe we
can, and with considerable certainty, conclude that this presence is not only due to the
continuity of a tradition, but is, above all the result of recent “revival” phenomenon:
several ethnic and regional minorities have allotted a national or regional function to the
bagpipe, thus renewing instrumental traditions otherwise doomed to oblivion. Two most
recent examples are the revival of the Irish uillean pipe and the biniou in Bretagne.

Actually, the bagpipe is too specialized an instrument to survive easily, even if it has
resisted longer in folk culture than in so-called “cultivated” music: the presence of the
drone and therefore the impossibility to modulate except to the dominant or the sub-
dominant, the impossibility of any harmonic development also because of the drone,
tuning difficulties, maintenance problems - all constitute reasons for the gradual decline
of the bagpipe, which together with other drone instruments (like the hurdy-gurdy and
various zither-type instruments) was the first among folk instruments to fall victim to the
profoundly upsetting social-economic events which assailed Europe in the 18th century,
and which provoked the disintegration of rural-traditional community life.

In many places the bagpipe has been replaced by more modern substitutes, and above all
by the organetto (which also supplanted the launeddas to a large extent in Sardinia). It
would be interesting to investigate the reasons why there has never been a widespread
revival of the bagpipe in Italy (or for that matter, in the German-speaking countries,
where the Dudelsack or Sackpfeife were once so popular), but still more pertinent is to
discover the how and why of the revivals which did take place where they did in Italy.
There has been an association of the bagpipe with the Christmas holiday festivities, a fact
that is actually and excellent economic incentive for the preservation of the statistics on
hand. The writer believes that there may be as many as a thousand bagpipe and fife
players throughout Southern Italy. But while the Christmas function of the bagpipe may
be the primary reason for its survival in the South, this fact has, however, also contributed
to the impoverishment of the bagpipe repertoire, which has literally been reduced to a
single carol or novena, Tu scen lidalle stelle, and several pieces based on traditional
dance tunes or songs.

On the basis of research findings (and it must not be excluded that further research may
eventually reveal surprises that could contradict these facts) it does seem apparent that
the bagpipe in Northern Italy, known as the piva and in use until some fifteen years ago,
is now completely extinct. The following seem to confirm this notion. At Rava di
Valtorta in the Val Brembana the writer met a family whose nickname was the “Pias”,
because during his lifetime, their grandfather had been a locally well-known piva player.
Several people in Brescia remember that during the holidays in the ‘30’s the chimney
sweeps who came down from Vacaominca used to combine their alms seeking with
playing the bagpipe and the fife. Finally - and this will be discussed more amply below -
the last bagpipe player of a particular area located somewhere between Alexandria and
Genova, Pacenza and Pavia, died in 1956 in Pradaglia, near Fabbrica Curone.

A broad panorama of the bagpipe in Italy is presented for the first time in this album, and
contains: examples of the Southern bagpipe (zampogna), both as solo instrument and
accompanying the oboe (piffero); the piva from Istria, the launeddas from Sardinia (that
extraordinary clarinet which requires that the very cheeks of the player serve as air-
sacks); the oboe (piffero) from the Liguian-Lombard Apennines; and finally, the
organetto (a concertina-type instrument), in its function as a “competitor” and substitute
for the bagpipe.

THE SOUTHERN BAGPIPE

The bagpipe of Southern Italy is a cornamusa with completely unique features, at least as
regards Western Europe. It consists of a very large air-sack (made from a complete goat-
skin); two chanters for the melody, and one or two pipes for drones (1) that are tuned in
the dominant. All four pipes (because even in the case of a bagpipe having lodged into a
single piece of wood in the form of a truncated cone, are inserted in the front part of the
airsack. The divergent pipes have a slightly conical internal profile and terminate in the
characteristic “bell” shape, very similar to the Medieval corneous, and which confers that
unmistakable timbre so typical of the Italian bagpipe. The same type of reed is used for
both the melody and the drone; usually they are double reeds, but in several areas (i.e.,
Sicily and Calabria) it seems that single reeds have recently been used to play the
novenas at Christmas in the house, before the Holy Crèche. The Southern bagpipe is
played either as a solo, melodic instrument or to accompany a type of oboe (the ciarmello
or piffero). Quite often the tambourine (tamburello) is also included for dance songs.
(Track #1)
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As an instrument used to accompany dancing, the bagpipe now has a very dangerous
competitor. The diatonically tuned organetto, practically identical to the melodeon (or
concertina) in use in the British Isles, offers the advantages of being easier to learn, with
the added feature of virtuoso possibilities, has perfect tuning (and therefore can play
easily with other instruments). As a substitute for the bagpipe this is amply illustrated in
Track #8. The tarantella which is played here should be compared to that played by the
bagpipe and tambourine on the preceding track. During the mass religious pilgrimages
which take place annually in Calabria, the bagpipe is slowly disappearing, while the
number of concertinas continues to increase while taking over the repertoire, and, to a
certain extent, even the style of the bagpipe they are slowly replacing.
The Southern bagpipe is today present in the following Italian regions, in slightly varying
models: Abruzzo, Molise, Lazio, Campania, Lucania, Calabria and Sicily (particularly in
Eastern Sicily in the Provinces of Catania and Messina).

THE LAUNEDDAS

The launeddas of Southern Sardinia are not bagpipes in the true sense of the word,
insofar as they have no air-sack, but the technique used to play this triple clarinet does
put it into the same category as the bagpipe; by using the cheeks as airsack and a
particular type of breathing circular, the launeddas player can obtain a continuous sound
from his instrument, with drone and melody, exactly like that of a bagpipe.

Actually the launeddas is a typically Sardinian reed instrument, unique not only to the
Mediterranean area, but to the world in general. It consists of three pipes with reeds,
each a different length, and, of which the longest and the middle pipes (tumbu and
mancosa manna) are held together by a pitch-soaked string, while the smallest
(mancosedda) is free. The longest pipe serves as the pedal tone with one low, continuous
note, while the other two play in antiphony. The instrument was once employed in the
now-obsolete therapeutic rituals of theargia, a type of Sardinian tarantism practiced as
recently as fifteen years ago. Today tarantism can only be found on mainland Italy, in
Salento (Lecce).

In Campidan, which is now one of the few places in Sardinia where the launeddas can
still be found (once it was diffused throughout all of the island), there are still several
virtuoso players and launeddas makers (at Cabras, Villaputzu, Maracalagonis, etc.) who
also teach their art to several selected neophytes. The playing technique of this
instrument is extremely difficult and requires a very long period of studs and a
more-than-common musical aptitude.

In a very detailed study of the instrument the Danish ethnomusicologist Fridolin Weis
Bentzon has written that the launeddas belong to a very widespread group of double
clarinets which according to archeological findings and Egyptian and Mesopotamian
mural paintings, can be traced to as early as 3000 B.C. With their form remaining
practically unchanged down to our own time, these instruments were diffused throughout
Asia and Europe, where they then developed along different lines. In Europe their most
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typical form was the aulos and the tibie of Classical times, after which they transformed
for the most part into the cornamusa. Later they disappeared completely from “refined”
music and are now found only in limited areas on their way towards extinction, and only
for use in traditional and folk music. The launeddas is the most unusual member of this
instrumental family, continues Bentzon and we are fortunate to have two iconographic
images from the Middle Ages which give us a point of reference in our suppositions of
their origin... (2) It is particularly significant that no other extant image or literary
reference from these periods refer to any other instrument with three pipes; Egyptians,
Phoenicians and Etruscans all appear to have had two-piped instruments, but this is
insufficient evidence to establish the place of origin of the launeddas, which already had
those characteristics which make it uniquely Sardinian, even in ancient times (3),
Bentzon concludes.

It is important to note at this point, however, that despite the proven antiquity of this
instrument, which has remained more or less unaltered in the 2500 years of its existence,
there is no parallel proof regarding the music, which the launeddas plays today. The
instrument undoubtedly evolved according to the changes in taste throughout the
centuries adapting the major scale of the Western musical system. The greater part of the
melodies played by the launeddas reveal, however, Medieval characteristics.

There are many different types of launeddas, variously tuned. Each is used for a
different occasion according to individual “colour” and a more or less dark sound.
The principle types (three of which are documented in this album) are as follows:
a. mediana e mediana pipia (4)
b. fiorassu
c. punta d’organo
d. contrappuntu

Track 2 is a tuning scheme for the four different launeddas types (bearing in mind
however that this only serves to define the tuning of each type and does not indicate the
precise pitch of each, insofar as there exist considerable differences in the launeddas
“set” of each player; i.e., despite adherence to the tuning scheme, the various players tune
their instruments without any precise uniformity). Illustrated below for each type is the
drone emitted by the tumbu, and the notes of the arrefinu, the mancosa and the
mancosedda. The arrefinu is that rectangular hole which is impressed in the wax and is
the true “register” or pitch of the pipe.

THE ISTRIAN PIVA

The piva of the Veneto-Istrian community is an instrument, which is related to that

bagpipe which with considerable local variations, is amply diffused in the Balkans, the
Middle East and North Africa. It is very similar to the mih used by the Croatians in Istria
and in the northern Adriatic islands. It is a very simply made bagpipe, consisting of a
skin air-sack and two pipes equipped with a single reed (like the clarinet). These are
quite short (18-20 cm. circa) and coupled, slightly divergent, and both with digital holes.
The drone effect is obtained as with the diple (a double clarinet without an air-sack
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found in several Balkan areas), i.e., by transferring the emission of the continuous notes
from one pipe to the other, according to the needs (usually very elementary) of the
melody. According to the following scheme, the two pipes have several notes in
common. (track # 4)

According to the writer’s knowledge the piva no longer survives except in the village of
Gallesano, where it is still used to accompany dancing (the so-called canto sotto le pive).
Up until the end of World War II the piva was actually quite widespread, and in the past
there were many groups made up of several pivas and zimbali (tambourines). Today the
piva is usually played together with one tamburello or zimbalo.

THE CORNAMUSA AND THE BOMBARDA OF THE LIGURIAN-LOMBARD

APENNINES

Up until about 15 years ago the combination of bagpipe/ciaramella in Southern Italy and
the biniou/bombarde of Bretagne had its equivalent in the Ligurian-Lombard Apennines.
The cornamusa (or as known locally, the musa) disappeared with the death of its last
player in 1956, but the bombarda (or pinfero) is still played, even by professionals, who
are accompanied by the accordion (substituting the cornamusa). The cornamusa player
was known as the musetta and the pinfero or fife player is called the brisgiott.

The repertoire, which includes a considerable variety of traditional dances (monferrina,

alessandrina, giga, corrent, piana, perigurdino, and some more recent ones, like the
polka, mazurka and waltz), also comprises “suites” of considerable importance which,
although quite different from each other in context (for use during Carnival rites, for
serenades, marriages, etc.), all have the same basic structure: one slow part, played in free
form, that might also be sung in duet with the piffero, immediately followed by a quickly
moving tempo, strictly instrumental, for dancing. The writer was told that the piece
recorded here, entitled “Luigina:”(track 18) is used during the marriage service and
precisely at the point during the marriage service and precisely at the point during the
ceremony symbolizing the bride’s departure from the parental home, and serves as a sort
of lamento, followed by gioia (joy).

In describing the instruments it seems fit to mention that while the writer has seen various
types of pifferi, at least enough of them to provide the elements for a full knowledge of
the instrument, as far as the cornamusa is concerned it was necessary to restrict this study
to the only example he was able to obtain, and this was without its air-sack and with only
one chanter, one drone, and a pipe for air intake. The chanter is a bony conical, with
seven front digital holes and no thumb-hole; a curious detail are two symmetrical holes
for the little finger in the lower position (one of which is plugged with wax), in such a
way so as to be used by a left-handed player or by someone who is self-taught and
therefore, one who plays with an incorrect hand position. It has a double reed. The drone
is in two pieces, assembled like a telescope, of myrtlewood, and has five holes, which if
quickly plugged with wax or re-opened with a match-flame, make tuning variations
possible. The drone has a single reed, and while being played rests in the crook of the
left arm. Contrary to that of the launeddas and the drones of the gaita or of the Britannic
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bagpipes, this single reed was cut from the inside outwards, similar to the drones of the
cabrettes of Auvergne and the mouthpieces of various Oriental clarinets.

The bombarda, on he other hand, has more archaic features than the Southern piffero; the
reed is not held between the lips (as for the oboe), but is inserted into the mouth while the
closed lips serve as a circular support, exactly the method of playing required for the
Oriental zurna. It has seven front digital hoes and one thumbhole. It is cylindrical,
usually ebony with a myrtle wood bell. It used to be made in Cantalupo (Tortona) and in
Cicagna (near Chiavari). At the end of his performance the player usually cleaned his
reed by passing a feather through it; the same feather that served to decorate the bell
while he was playing.

Piana (track 17) is a very interesting instrumental piece from this same area. Pasquale
Sala of Pareto (Fabbrica Curone) was unable to play the piffero because of his advanced
age, so he volunteered to vocally illustrate his part in the dance repertoire. A comparison
between this demonstration and the technique of the canntaireachd used by the Scots
bagpipers (LA ZAMPOGNA,Vol. 1 Albatros VPA 8148) is immediately noticeable. The
similarity lies particularly in the rhythm used for breathing and in the phrasing. The
limited resources available for research prevent the possibility of determining whether
this type of performance is (as in the case of the Scots bagpipers) more or less the
authentic style of the local players.

Footnotes
1) Sometimes there is a fifth pipe, very short, but always mute. Bagpipe makers insist
that this unusable pipe serves to “complete” the instrument. Actually it is the remainder
of a very shrill, now-obsolete drone. In Southern Italy there are bagpipes used for
accompaniment that have a very long left-hand chanter called the “trombone”.

2) One figure can be found among the illustrative miniatures in the Spanish manuscript of
Cantigas de Santa Maria, made for King Alfonso el Sabio (13th century). It is not clear,
however, whether the miniature is of a Sardinian player or whether the launed das was
then also a Spanish instrument. Another example is a small statue in the Cagliari
(Sardinia) museum (dated from between 800 and 300 B.C.) depicting the player of a
tripe-piped wind instrument.

3) F. Weis Bentzon, Is Launeddas, In Ichnusa, n. 45, 1961.

4) The difference between the mediana and the mediana pipa (or simply, pipia) is in the
notes that can be played on the mancosedda (tumbu and macosa are equal, in fact). In
these two types the arrefinu of the mancosedda is equal (in our example, the key of 6) but
this is a sequence of the notes that follow (see ex. n. 3)

TRACKS

1. MELODIES
2. SALTARELLO
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 3. PASTORALE
4. CHRISTMAS CAROL
5. CASTRORGIO, YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL
6. CHRISTMAS CAROL
7. TARANTELLA
8. TARANTELLA
9. LITANY AND PASTORAL
10. DANCES
11. CHRISTMAS EVE PASTORAL
12. DANCE
13. ACCOMPANIMENT FOR THE PROCESSION
14. FURLANA
15. SONG WITH BAGPIPE
16. MONFERRINA
17. PIANA
18. WEDDING MUSIC

CREDITS
Producer and Supervisor: Roberto Leydi
Recordings: Roberto Leydi, Brno Pianta, Diego Carpitella, J.P. Simpson,
Walter Henning, Odeon.
English Translations: Aliki andris-Michalaros
Cover Design: Domizia Gandofi

AN ORIGINAL ALBATROS RECORDING

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