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Music

ISTRIAN FOLK MUSIC

Introduction to Istrian folk music by Mario Fragiacomo.

Introduction to Istrian folk music by Mario Fragiacomo.

Istria is a land of meeting of different languages ​​and ethnic groups and for centuries the scene of invasions, migrations and settlements, therefore it can boast a very complex and nuanced history. Over the centuries, mostly subjugated and persecuted peoples found refuge there, coming from distant and diverse geographical and cultural areas and it represents an emblematic example of how various human typologies have managed to create their own identity.
It is the fruit of a historical pragmatism of Istria to define it as Istria and that's it because a strong regional connotation and pride hovers in every true Istrian.
The rapid socio-economic transformations of the last decades have however delimited two political-administrative divisions: Slovenes in the north and Croats in the centre and south after the Italian ethnic group was forced into the biblical exodus that we all know.
In a large part of the coast we find the Istro-Veneti – and between Rovinj and Dignano also the particular and ancient Istriot or Istro-Romance language – in the district of Capodistria the Slovenes and Savrini, in the interior the Istro-Croatians and the Croatianized Cicci and a very small part of Istro-Romanian Cicci.
Historians say that the Histri and Liburni of the pre-Roman and Roman era had already assimilated with the Illyrians in ancient times and the Celtic and Roman contributions were fundamental. Then there were the Ostrogoths, the Lombards and the Franks. The Latinization of Istria, which occurred during the Roman colonization, contributed to the formation of autochthonous neo-Latin languages. The Slavs descended into Istria later, in the 8th century.
It is natural that all these movements throughout history have also brought about very diverse music that historians are certainly able to catalogue better.
Ethnomusicologists say that the first sound emitted in Istria (from a wind instrument) was heard on a small hill, perhaps near Buje, about twenty-three centuries ago: in 178 BC the tibiae and buccine on the heads of the Roman legions played the defeat of the Histri. But this is a historical story from the anthology of Istrian music. Later, the flows of ancient civilizations in Istria, such as the Patriarchate of Aquileia during the 1420th century, will have also brought Gregorian Chants into liturgical functions, but there is no certain information. Only from XNUMX, under the sovereignty of the Most Serene Republic of Venice with Andrew the Ancient from Montona (1470) and later withDon Philip of Laurana e Francesco Spongia from Rovinj we find a more tangible trace of music. However, it is sacred music (psalms and madrigals) in medieval style. In more recent times, in 1692 we find an illustrious musician and composer from Piran, Giuseppe Tartini. Born in Pola in 1854 instead Antonio Smareglia one of the most illustrious great Istrian musicians in the history of music, and born in Pisino in 1904 the last great Istrian composer of the twentieth century: Luigi Dallapiccola.
It is to be assumed that folk-popular music has been added to this more cultured form of music over the centuries, given that popular traditions have always existed, but have been handed down only through oral tradition and are therefore difficult if not impossible to catalogue.
I will deal in particular with folk music of the Venetian-Istrian tradition, also considering that I believe it is certainly the most interesting and significant of all Istrian popular musical culture.
In Istria the prevailing linguistic register in folk songs is precisely Italian (or dialectized Italian also with hypercorrectisms) due to the historical Italian presence that has always been more consistent in the larger centers, especially in western and coastal Istria while the Slovenian and Croatian presence was characterized above all by rural settlement in smaller villages or in scattered houses and often, around the predominantly Italian villages, the hamlets of the countryside were entirely Slavic inhabited by farmers and shepherds who were poorer than the wealthy farmers of the village. After the last war, with the exodus of the Istrians, coastal Istria was transformed into a tourist region, bringing a consistent migratory flow of new Slavic populations.
A well-known musicologist from Trieste, Roberto Starec, did a very thorough research about twenty years ago on the songs and music of Venetian Istria. We must give him credit for the fact that his was the most interesting ethno-musicological research ever carried out in Italy.
Much of the information I will analyze comes from his treatises and publications on folk songs of the Venetian-Istrian tradition.
Another interesting publication of music from Venetian popular culture was made by a musician from Barbana d'Istria who lives in Trieste: Joseph Radole and recently the Regional Institute for Istrian-Fiumano-Dalmatian Culture (IRCI) and the Popular University of Trieste (UPT) have published the largest work of research, study and recovery of the folk music of these lands curated by the maestro Luigi Donora of Dignano d'Istria who lives in Turin. A mammoth manuscript work of musical notation collected in the field over years of research, song after song, hymn after hymn, listening to the traditional songs sung by the locals themselves and then transcribing them, note after note, structuring the rhythm, the melody and the harmony.
A final consideration: what remains today of this Venetian-Istrian musical culture, even if there is a great interest on the part of the Italian communities present in Istria in their diffusion with the various choirs or folk groups, is that the repertoire performed today is scarcely significant from an ethnomusicological point of view. The most representative peculiarities such as the Swimming Arias,  Villote adescant (the “canti a pera” and “la longa”), the BitinadeStarlings, in addition to Narrative songs andBegging and religious, is rarely taken into consideration, perhaps also because it is not well known, but above all because what could be documented until a few years ago, today we can say is almost completely extinct with the disappearance of the last performers. After the historic group “Istranova” of the 80s, although decidedly rock-oriented, now only the “Vruja Histriae” presents some interesting peculiarities also using characteristic musical instruments such as the two-stringed Istrian basset or the mih. The other groups use only some instrumental music and dances such as the balunPolcaValzer Furlana. Today the Bitinada barely survives within the Italian Community of Rovinj.
An important active musician and ethnomusicologist, representative of Istrian folk music, is certainly Dario Marusic who today also collaborates with an interesting artist from Pula:Tamara Obrovac.

Reference Bibliography
Luigi Donora – Dances, songs, hymns and popular praises of Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia – IRCI Editions – UPT Trieste – 2003
Antonio Pauletich – Hymns and Songs of the People of Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia – Unione Italiana Editions – Fiume / UPT Trieste – 2004
Roberto Starec – The Istrian-Venetian ethnomusical repertoire – IRCI Trieste Editions – 1991
Roberto Starec – The popular descants of the Venetian-Istrian tradition
Roberto Starec – Songs and music of Venetian Istria – Albatros 1983.
Joseph Radole – Istrian folk songs – Leo S. Olschki Editions – 2 collections 1965/1968
Antonio Ive – Istrian folk songs collected in Rovinj – Loescher Editions Turin – 1877

Other significant bibliography
Giuseppe Vidossi, Matteo Fillini, Robert Lach, Francesco Babudri, Franco Baldanello, Claudio Noliani, Giovanni Pellizzer, Libero Benussi, A. Catalan, RM Cossàr, D. Marusic, G. Sanga, G. Scotti, A. Tabouret, G. Timeus.

Reference discography
ROBERTO STAREC – “Popular songs and music from Venetian Istria” – Albatros ALB/20 – LP year 1984
ROBERTO STAREC – “Instruments and players in Istria” – Pizzicato C 017 – Audio cassette year 1990
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF VENEZIA GIULIA AND DALMATIA – ROME COMMITTEE – “Nostalgia del mar” – Istria Nobilissima Choir of Rome directed by G. Bosazzi – CD year 2002
DARIO MARUSIC – “Istrophonia” – Folkest Ribium CDE 11 – CD year 2002
SILVIUS DONATI – “Istrian Elegies by Biagio Marin” – Folkest Ribium CDE 15 – CD year 2002
TAMARA OBROVAC – “Transhistria” – CD year 2001
LUIGI DONORA' – “Dances, songs, hymns and popular praises” – CD year 2003 (attached to the volumehomonym).
MARIO FRAGIACOMO & CENTRAL EUROPE ENSEMBLE
 – “Histria ed oltre” CD in the process of being published.

Reference websites
ISTRIANET – www.istrianet.org
ADRIATIC ARCHIPELAGO – CDM – www.arcipelagoadriatico.it/
ISTRIA CIRCLE – www.circoloistria.it/
MAILING LIST HISTRIA – http://xoomer.virgilio.it/histria/
BORDERLAND – www.teradeconfin.org
ISTRIANS – www.istrians.com
IRCI – www.irci.it
ANVGD – www.anvgd.it
ADES. – www.adesonline.com
UNION OF ISTRIANS – www.unioneistriani.it/
NATIONAL LEAGUE – www.leganazionale.it/
FIUMANI STUDIES SOCIETY – www.fiume-rijeka.it/
GIULIANI ASSOCIATION IN THE WORLD – www.giulianimondots.it

Special thanks for the kind collaboration to:
Rosanna Turcinovich Giuricin
Paul Simionato
Roberto Starec
Alexander Boris Amisich
Axel Famiglini
Pier Paolo Sancin
Joseph Radole
Luigi Donora