00:00 To me, singing is everything.
00:11 It's been my passion since I was a boy.
00:13 I feel it in my heart.
00:18 This sound may be somewhat unfamiliar.
00:21 We'll learn more about its origins in a moment.
00:26 You feel it here.
00:28 When everyone's singing in harmony, it moves something here in your gut.
00:35 It comes from the remote mountain villages of the Italian island of Sardinia.
00:40 It's known as the canto a tenore and is said to date back over 3,000 years.
00:46 It's part of daily life in many Sardinian towns, like Orgozalo, for example.
00:52 Musicologist Diego Pani has been studying Sardinian pastoral song for several years.
00:57 It's been declared an intangible world heritage by UNESCO.
01:01 Canto a tenore is a polyphonic singing realized by four parts.
01:05 The peculiar fact of these four parts is that the two lowest voices are made using overtone
01:16 singing.
01:18 The Supramonte group breaks down the song for us into its individual voices.
01:33 Much of the canto a tenore remains a mystery, but there's no doubt that it originated
01:38 among the shepherds and herders, the island's traditional occupations.
01:42 It's passed on by ear, not on paper.
01:48 I've always worked in the country around cows.
01:50 The singing reminds me of cows mooing.
01:53 Calves sound very similar.
01:54 I try to imitate that.
01:56 It's the same sound.
01:58 Yeah, some might say this kind of song was inspired by the sounds of animals, but that
02:04 really hasn't been proven.
02:08 The canto a tenore is sung at certain festivals, on holidays and occasionally at concerts,
02:14 but here it's part of daily life.
02:17 Upgoers in Sardinian villages often spontaneously break out in song.
02:22 About 3,500 singers are active in all of Sardinia.
02:27 Every village has its own style.
02:43 What role does the singing play among the Sardinians themselves?
02:49 When you get together, have some drinks and then hear this, it always gets really quiet.
02:54 Everyone loves it.
02:57 It's our tradition.
02:59 We carry the singing in our hearts.
03:01 It's part of Sardinian identity and Orgosolo's identity.
03:05 The canto belongs to this region and we're very proud of it.
03:10 The lyrics were written in the Sardinian language by Sardinian poets.
03:14 They deal with love, friendship, religion, war and peace.
03:18 How will this singing be passed on to the next generation?
03:25 Ciriaco is still young, 20 years old.
03:28 He was still a child when he came to us and learned to sing.
03:32 We all learn the tradition this way.
03:35 You can't learn it at any school.
03:39 The origins of the canto a tenore will always be something of a mystery, but it's an integral
03:45 part of Sardinian identity that lives on to the present day.
03:49 (static)
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