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February 9th, 2025
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Villotte at a distance

Though Vilota it is the name of an instrumental dance from Dignano, more specifically the villotta a ballo, sung and played it is called furlan. The villotte a discanto are instead typical lyric-monostrophic songs, based mainly on hendecasyllabic verses present above all in the northern Adriatic Veneto area and therefore also in Istria.
It can be assumed that similar styles were at the origin of medieval descant, due to the influence of popular singing on clerical singing.
The villotta is an archaic form of diaphonic peasant singing, therefore a bivocal song that uses a male and a female voice and is, perhaps, one of the oldest forms of polyvocal singing found in Europe even if, unfortunately, today it has almost completely disappeared. From the little-known satirical song of Rovinj (the butunada) to the popular singers of pear-shaped songs (i.e. in pairs) anda la longa of Gallesano, which only a few years ago were very numerous. In Dignano and Valle instead we find the singing form called Low but unfortunately today the use of this style has practically become extinct like all historical documentation.
The lyrics of these villotte generally have a lyrical and satirical character (mostly of an erotic nature, and sometimes explicitly sexual).
Depending on the repetition characteristics of the text, they are called Mantignade (literally “Morning”) when the verse is repeated only once (in Sissano) and Pear-shaped songs or Long-shaped songsif the verse is repeated twice or broken in repetitions, while the Low dignanesi have the characteristic that the words are improvised at the moment of execution, almost a sort of improvisation in use in the characteristic jazz style. An evident sign of this extemporaneous improvisation is that sometimes the text is suggested to the ear of the other companion between one phrase and another or during a breath-break of one of the two singers.
In the southern part of Croatian Istria and in Krk there is a similar tradition which can be found in the songs called tararankanj. They are in a tank I'm losing (thin and thick) duet songs in the Chakavian dialect and are still very popular today.
A technical note: these Croatian two-voice songs use the so-called “Istrian” scale (hexaphonic, untempered) which is not found among the Istrian-Venetian descants with the exception of the mantignade of Sissano.

A typical pear-shaped song by Gallesano.

The memoir rings the bell
the me girlfriend iò there, the bell
with the chimney he makes it ring
with the walk the la, he makes it play.

Blessed be this company
bless this company
what makes the man with the brain so happy?
what makes the man so happy but with a brain

Blessed be those who now shore
blessed be those who-to which shore are now-to
ready the burden to hear
ready for the job but to hear-a.

A typical I sing along by Gallesano

In this is the sea that is the world
you are the star friend
what can the ship do?
never save the soul
what can the ship do?
to save my soul.

Take my chains
that chains my heart
I am prisoners of love
I will be faithful to you
I am prisoners of love
I will be faithful to you.

A typical example of Bass Dignano

He is based on the fact that he wants to make the night
I'm going to retreat to the plan
I'm going to retreat to the piano but at your door-a
but to your doors

And on the most beautiful mountain the moon rises
for you to do it for me
for you to be my sentry
but the sentinel

Un Bass Valais

My girlfriend, make me put it on you
my girlfriend make me put it on you
my horse inside my (your) stable
from my stable.

mantignada of Sissano

In the middle of the marsh there is a fountain
in the middle of the sea there is a telephone
whoever drinks that water falls in love

and I drank a bowl
and I drank a bowl-ai
and I know I'm in love with Marusa bela na nai

nice little girl on your
true sea that I made for you in your life
I'm on your side.

butanada from Rovinj

I did not see the hour that was on the base
I think I saw my husband with the base
the vineyard where the bases are full
par faghe rabia to these four hyenas.

And based on them he can carry Nane's coffin
He makes them so piùn these pietabrane
and if the seas have brought the soil to the breeze
these stupid things from Friday never made them happy.