2. Anonymous Author

In the previous paragraph I have involuntary anticipated the second characteristic of folk songs, the fact that their authors are anonymous.

This element may concern the literary aspect, even though most of the words written for this variety of songs possibly will have a known author (a mother that sings a lullaby 'una ninnia', o a poet that 'lends' his words to a tenor). The unidentified author must concern the writer of the original melody, that had written it's music. This music is usually a captivating tune and the public are inclined to reproduce it. The reproduction is never the same as the original, because each person tends to personalize the tune, adding variations according to the area of habitat, thus forgetting the initial music and it's author. In this way it is the 'people' that become author of the folk song after it's continuous transformation and elaboration. The procedure, where the people become the 'owners' of the folk songs is known as 'folk heritage'.

There are many examples of the origins of these songs; hymns during the mass, particularly during the offertory; Christmas carols, some 'Cantigos de ammuttiu' ('lullabies'). Some Hymns, even though they may have differences in their melodies, have similar musical structures, that alternate a single vocalist with choir singing. Listening to 'sa missa carmelitana' of Nulvi and 'sa missa cantada' of Cheremule, we can hear many comparable elements.

Christmas carols and offertory songs are even more noteworthy, because there is only a slight difference between the words of the deriving folk songs and the original, but the musical element is very different, both harmony and melody. How did the diffusion of a song so clearly similar, despite it's local variants, come about? For example, Aiò' comare aiò. I have no elements to give a scientific explanation to that question, almost certainly the contact between different communities (emigration, work, commercial exchanges, weddings) has enriched the respective vocal traditions, but it is the distance from the original areas of such songs has given way to the local variants.

The dates of songs and the unidentified author are directly connected.

3. Liberal performance of oral traditions

The date of a folk song and it's unidentified author are not sufficient to explain the constant transformation of the song. A third element comes into this, the liberal performance of oral traditions, which creates a progressive detachment from the original piece of music, remaining apparently faithful to the original. Each performer assumes a rightful paternity of the song that he intones, accusing the others performers of abuse of authority, that he himself commits and which, after all, is part of the temperament of oral traditions.

This liberty is taken because of the improvisation of each performer; even though the canvas remains recognizable, each performance is unique in it's swing, it's timing, embellishment and in it's various personality. Each generation of self- ruling performers establishes a progressive detachment from the original song, which is transformed so much that it can no longer be performed as known by the elderly. More than the result of the will of the performer to innovate the song, it merely shows his incapacity to repeat it exactly as he had learnt from his elderly teachers.

The statement made by Nanneddu Demelas, boghe de su coru from Pattada is symbolic: 'A s'antiga, comente cantaian sos mannos, non bi so bonu a la cantare' (I do not know how to sing the song in the customary way that the elderly used to sing it) In fact the upkeep of the traditional way of singing inevitably undergoes what remains the major reality of oral traditions; it's continuous transformation. Each performance becomes a revisit.

A part from some original songs, such as ninnia, most other songs become stripped of their context and used, readapted i.e. revisited in another context; many Cantigos de ammuttiu, intended for children, are now ballos a cantigu (Duru duru, Tai tai, Corrigheddu e coro amadu etc.)

Context and place of performance »