Tenores di Bitti

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 a chord in just intonation. There are in Bitti several "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 (Sardinian: Vitzi) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 140 kilometres (87 mi) north of Cagliari and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Nuoro.

Bitti borders the following municipalities: Alà dei Sardi, Buddusò, Lodè, Lula, Nule, Onanì, Orune, Osidda, Padru.

History

The commune takes its name from the Sardinian bitta (female deer). Already existing in Roman times, it is mentioned in 1170 as Bitthe. Bitti was a provincial capital of the Giudicato of Gallura and, from the 14th century, was part of the Giudicato of Torres. It was later included in the marquisate of Orani.

Main sights

Demographic evolution

See also

References

External links