Though modern Italy has only existed for as a unified nation since 1861, the country boasts venerable and ancient musical traditions that link the present with storied past. Regional folkloric styles persist and vary wildly all over Italy, culled from many different eras of the nation's history. Other forms, such as opera, classical and popular music are more broadly-based, and popular all over Italy. Liturgical music deserves special mention, too, representing Italy's deep and enduring ties to the Catholic Church.
One of the oldest instruments in the country is the launeddas, a variant on the bagpipes, mostly found in Sardinia, and featured in artwork dating back to the 8th century B.C. It's still played today, often in religious processions that are part of the fabric of Italian life. Indeed, religion forms the root of many Italian folk traditions, where Christianity and the older ideals of worship come together, as in the mystical tarantella of the South, whose roots easily predate the Church.
Opera began in the late 16th century as a way of singing Greek tragedy (in this period some Italians believed the Greeks had sung their plays and attempted to emulate that, although some of its history goes back into the mists of Tuscan time with the maggio drammatico tradition). Venice was the center of the new form, and Montiverdi its early genius. It developed rapidly during the 18th century, with famed opera houses in Milan and Naples, and Italian opera proved popular throughout Europe.
But Italy's fragmented history is perhaps best indicated in its traditional folk music, which is usually sung in regional dialects, rather than Italian. That's perhaps most evident in the style called Neopolitan song (canzone Napolitana). Performed exclusively in the local tongue, it's not folk, but a composed music, most popular at the beginning of the 20th century, with a strong romantic streak. Because of its success abroad, with songs like "O Sole Mio," it's often thought of as typical Italian song, although it's anything but that.
Musically, too, the regions remain very distinct. In Piedmont, at the Northwest head of the country, there's a strong Celtic influence, both in instruments and melody, that comes from neighboring southern France (also evident in singing styles across the entire north of the peninsula), while the Northeast looks more toward Central Europe, with dances like polkas a part of the standard repertoire for musicians. Indeed, there's virtually a musical divide between north and south in Italy, the lower half of the country taking on musical colors that show how the Arab world, North Africa and Greece have affected it. That's evident in the single melody lines (as opposed to the polyphony of the North).
Calabria, at the very bottom of the country, is the proverbial melting pot of the Mediterranean, where it's possible to hear Greek, Arab and even Albanian music as part of the norm. It's also the place where the "music of the mafia" began—a curious, stark, anomalous ballad style celebrated on three CDs that caused controversy with their appearance, although the roots of the music go back to the time of Italian unification and protecting Calarbian peasants from rapacious foreign landlords.
On the relatively isolated islands of Sicily and especially Sardinia, the Arab influence has lingered, but those lands are best known for the odd polyphonic singing style of the male tenores: small unaccompanied groups with musical origins that come back to the plainsong of the early church. It's a style that's gained international acclaim, most particularly for the band Tenores de Bitti, with its spare beauty and deep sound.
In recent times Italian music has found new voices. One is strongly political, centered around Naples, and springing from the Socialist musical roots of Danielle Sepe and E'Zezi in the 1970s that's spawned newer groups and artists like Spaccanapoli and Vinicio Capossela. Then there's the airy, light sound of the organetto, which has become widespread throughout the country, although few play it with quite the virtuosity of Ricardo Tessi. And, of course, it's impossible to ignore the music of Ennio Morrocone, who sometimes uses traditional music—albeit well disguised—in his epic soundtracks. Finally there's a breed of singer songwriters, the cantautori, highlighted by the erudite and slightly jazz Paolo Conte and Gino Paoli, who bring a very European, cosmopolitan sophistication to music.
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Italy has also spawned its own pop stars, some of whom have achieved international fame, like Zucchero, Laura Pausini (who won a 2006 Grammy for best Latin album) and Eros Ramazotti, who's found a large audience in Spanish-speaking countries (he records his albums in both Spanish and Italian). There's also a strong rock sensibility in the country, which found expression in the prog-rock era of the 1970s with PFM, who toured worldwide. In recent years Italy has produced some hip-hop bands of note and become a home of dance music. —Chris Nickson
