Tracce musicali nell’opera del canonico Spano

Although he had no specific musical training, canon Giovanni Spano’s works reveal a broad and articulate interest in the musical practices of his time. In particular, the two volumes of the Ortografia Sarda Nazionale (1840) are excellent sources on oral traditions, the oldest and most eloquent treatises on the subject by a scholar from the island. As a linguist, Spano pays particular attention to vocal forms and thus to the relationship between text and music, in the context of the practice of a Tenor singing and forms of poetic improvisation, guitar singing, etc. Most of the practices dealt with by Spano are still in use; for others, there is no precise evidence. Of particular interest is the female presence, characterised by the funeral laments of the prefiche, who were called poetesses and referred to forms of competition during funerals - a practice of which there is no other evidence. The essay reports on the most significant passages taken from various works, with a view to the forthcoming completion and interpretation of the musical indications in Canon Spano’s works.