En tournée
A NANNA
WOMEN IN THE SPOTLIGHT!
A cappella
corsican lullabies women's voices François Saint-Yves Sequenza 9.3 Catherine Simonpietri
A NANNA
Women in the spotlight!
A society is reflected in its songs, particularly if it is governed by orality.
In Corsica, polyphonic singing was born from the earth and from faith, and has always been reserved for men.
These powerful songs, of oral tradition, both sacred and profane, tell the different stages of the islanders’ daily life in religious, as well as in family and social events.
In this concert, I decided to put women back in the spotlight!
The all-female program presents monodies and polyphonies from the "Casa" (domestic), the "Piazza" (public square) and the "Chiesa" (church) that evoke the multiple aspects of Corsican women, saints, mothers, sisters, vociferous women…
At the heart of this program are the "Nanni" (lullabies), secular monodies harmonised by François Saint-Yves, which evoke the unconditional love of a mother for her child.
As their counterpart, we have the "voceri", funeral songs of "vendetta" and sacred pieces that call for contemplation.
A cappella concert for 6 female voices :
Sacred songs (women at the chiesa - church)
- SALVE REGINA - Eric Tanguy (1968 -)
- TOTA PULCHRA ES - Maurice Duruflé (1902 - 1986)
- AVE MARIA - Zoltan Kodaly (1882 - 1967)
- DONA NOBIS PACEM - Esa-Pekka Salonen (1958-)
Voceri (the woman with the piaza - in the public square)
- SANGU DI ROSA - Lucia Ronchetti (1963 -) - Creation
- VOCERI - Henri Tomasi (1901- 1971)
Harmonized Corsican lullabies (la femme à la casa - mother and child)
- NANNA DI U CUSCIONU, arrangement by François Saint-Yves (2010) - Lullaby published in 1837
- NANNA DI PALLECA, arrangement by François Saint-Yves (2010) - Lullaby published in Venice in 1841
- NANNA DI U DILÀ DA I MONTI, arrangement by François Saint-Yves (2010) - Lullaby published in 1841
- O CIUCCIARELLA, arrangement by François Saint-Yves (2010) - Poetry collected in 1926
- TRA LU BOIE È LU SUMERE, arrangement by François Saint-Yves (2010) - Popular oral lullaby sung on Christmas Eve
- NINNI NANNA (O LA RICCHEZZA), arrangement by François Saint-Yves (2010) - Text by Carulu Giovoni, written between 1925 and 1930
A NANNA - Corsican lullabies harmonized by François Saint-Yves
Propos : These monodies in Corsican, selected by Catherine Simonpietri, evoke the intimacy of a mother's unconditional love for her child. Corsican women give rhythm to life with songs, as necessary to charm our fragile childhoods as they are to console our sorrows. All the influences of the various barbarian invasions of this coveted Mediterranean island can be found here. François Saint-Yves's orchestration for six female voices offers a new perspective on our world today, going beyond the intimate mother-child relationship and the borders of the island.
SANGU DI ROSA - Lucia Ronchetti (premiere - commission Sequenza 9.3)
Extract from Lucia Ronchetti's note of intent: “The Corsican Voceri represent the survival, into the modern era, of one of the most important traditions of singing and lamenting near the tomb, practiced in various ancient cultures. Starting in 1841, linguist Niccolò Tommaseo analyzed the original aspects of the Corsican Vocero, leaving us with a transcription of several poetic texts collected from the vocal performances of local women. (...)
The loneliness and despair of the Corsican women who sing of their sorrows are linked to their evocations of violence, carnage and revenge. The traditional Corsican woman, subjugated in social life, speaks out and celebrates the rite of vengeance, improvising texts and melodies with her voice that resonate with the pain she has gone through. The poetic vibration runs through the sculptural language of Corsica, giving it a musical form that almost makes the singing body explode, experimenting with its hold and its limits.
The voceratrices are mothers, wives, sisters, daughters who have given their love and care, and who now experience the devastation of their own homes. Possessed, lost in blasphemous, hysterical visions, Corsican women seem to have become Goya's macabre figures. They let their bestiality out without taboo, creating sound frescoes of a power never equaled by other vocal traditions.”
