Tenores di Bitti

The Tenores do not use written music – this precious cultural/musical tradition is handed down orally from father to son. Their singing is characterised by the sounds of the natural landscape and the singers stand one in front of the other, forming a circle; their singing is a symbol of the strength, of the social cohesion, which is felt inside.

The city of Bitti in the region of Barbagia, Sardinia is known for its polyphonic singing, deemed one of the most expressive forms of singing; the highest peak of vocal art. On hearing the songs for the first time they can sound primitive and hard, like a voyage into a prehistoric age, when people imitated the sounds of nature. However, the four male voices one of which chants the main melody and the other three accompany it, in rhythmic pronunciation of syllables, achieve an unusual harmony and engaging, melodic sound.

The songs themselves are either profane poems speaking about the shepherds and their solitude in touch with nature, or religious songs referring to the popular world and its traditions.