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Bitinade

The ancient meaning of this song derives from a serenade made by musical instruments accompanying a solo voice.
Bitinada (similar to mattinata) sung in Rovinj is a form of folk singing in which singers replace the accompanying musical instruments with a kind of rhythmic polyvocality with onomatopoeic syllables that form the harmonic and rhythmic basis for the soloist's singing. This unusual accompaniment gives its name and characterizes bitinada.
The lyrics of the songs, mostly by anonymous and popular authors, are sung in Italian, while the 20th century songs by local authors, therefore of a more recent era, are generally in Istrian (Rovinj dialect).
Any Mediterranean-type song could be sung using this characteristic form of performance. In fact, a similar model of instrumental imitation can be found in various Italian folk songs (in the Sardinian tenores of Bitti in Sardinia for example or in Liguria, but also in Tuscany around Mount Amiata).
A classic among the Rovinj bitinadas is Spunta il sol and derives from a patriotic song by Pier Paolo Parzanese from 1860 (published with some changes in 1866 with the name L'addio del garibaldino) while a rather famous song is Tu non vedi che l'albero pende.
The most recent bitinada originates from the fishermen of Rovinj, also with curious analogies with the characteristics of the Ligurian trallalero that originates from the sailors of Genoa who, having their hands full during fishing trips, replace the accompaniment of the solo singer with the singing imitation of various musical instruments. And the falsetto would correspond to the white voice of the cabin boy.
Two choral groups from the Rovinj tobacco factory, coordinated by Giovanni Pellizzer, left a significant mark in the 30s.
Some of these:

You don't see that the tree is leaning

You don't see that the tree is leaning
and the leaves fall down
and to please these women
and to please these women
you don't see that the tree is leaning
and the leaves fall down
and to please these women
one would like youth
lala lala lala …………..
and to please these women
and to please these women.

I want to go to the high mountains
to hear the birds singing
those finches are singing
singers and those finches
lala lala lala ……………
those finches are singing
of all kinds and qualities.

The sun comes out

The sun comes out
the sun rises on the hill
the drum
the drum has already been played
beautiful don't cry if I leave
on my return
I'll be with you when I get back
beautiful don't cry if I leave
on my return
I'll be with you when I get back.

Give me a rice ball
give me a curl of your hair
that I want them
that I want to take them with me
and there on the fields I will look at those
at the end of the war
at the end of the war I will marry you
and there on the fields I will look at those
at the end of the war
at the end of the war I will marry you.

Other dialectal works, written between the First and Second World War:
– The Ruvignise muriede (by A.Rismondo / G.Paitler) of 1907
– Faviela el sapadùr (by Carlo Fabretto) from 1930
– The old batana (by D. Zecchi / G. Devescovi)