Page 1 - VOLUME1-WORKSONGS

(LYRCD 7333)

FOLK MUSIC AND SONGS OF SICILY
VOLUME I - WORK SONGS

This recording serves as testimony of an existing cultural reality within a marginal world upon
which socio-economic and cultural oppression has been and continues to be exerted and which
has often been and remains the object of unscrupulous exploitation: the non-industrial world, in
fat, according to various political interpretations, has often been looked upon as mythical Eden
that conjures up archaic and colorful images (as in the folk songs of Sicilian-Arabic tradition, or
those of the 15th and 16th centuries, without considering oral traditions and the thematic or
musical transformation which the songs have undergone throughout the ages), or as a conscious
attitude of protest that aim at creating an alternative culture. Actually there are not many beautiful
images (according to current standards) to be found in Sicilian folk songs, and the people
themselves did, in fact, not create the few that do exist. Utterance against the misery of everyday
life conditions is seldom a prominent theme, and often lies within the context of a culture, which
in most respects is fundamentally conservative (note, for instance, the religious outlook and the
obsequious attitude towards the employer). This, then, is the traditional culture which is
disappearing together with its load of misery, with the ideological obstacles, but also,
unfortunately, along with all those values which, though not explicitly sought after as an
alternative to the predominant culture, are offered, and can be accepted as such. Actually, while
folk songs usually stress utility, sociality, and technique, they also solicit the discussion of those
romantic aesthetics that are so relevant to the mystification of the non-industrial world.

Under the heading of “work songs” there have been included the following: a) actual work songs
whose purpose is to cadence the rhythm of work (threshing songs, songs of the salt workers,
songs of the tuna fishers; and b) songs that accompany certain work situations but are not
specifically connected to the work at hand (some peasant songs, cart-driver songs). All these
songs are a part of the traditional oral culture, a culture which today is undergoing a process of
rapid but incoherent transformation, a circumstance which accounts for the remarkable decline

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