CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
I Muvrini

Zankel Hall
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 PM

I Muvrini

Spanning over two decades, I Muvrini has captivated international audiences with secular and sacred songs from its native Mediterranean island. The ensemble’s haunting a cappella harmonies speak of love, labor, exile, and misfortune.

Presented by Carnegie Hall in partnership with the World Music Institute.

Program Notes:

Polyphonic Songs of Corsica

The oldest form of song in Corsica—a large mountainous island in the Mediterranean under French rule—is monophonic. These songs include voceri (laments for the dead usually improvised by women), nanne (lullabies), tribbiere (threshing songs), currente (songs for greeting guests usually with fiddle accompaniment), cuntrasti (exchanges between a young man and a woman), and chjam’e respondi (call and response).

The origin of Corsican polyphony is lost in the mists of time. It is probable that Gregorian chant, introduced in religious music during the Middle Ages, played a significant role in its formation. Corsican polyphonic chant (pulifunie) is performed for all celebrations, rites of passage, and seasonal festivals on the island and includes both secular and sacred songs. These songs are traditionally performed a cappella. The method of a cappella singing is based on three parts while a fourth part—the voice of the angels—is the result of harmonics caused by the interaction of the other voices, seeming to magically appear. The lead singer is the middle voice and is known as the secunda; ornamentation is provided by the terza, the highest voice; and the lowest voice is provided by the bassu, often in the form of a drone.
While brotherhoods of polyphonic singers (cunfraternita) dating back to the 12th century can be found, the tradition had become nearly extinct until its revival (riaquistu) in the 1970s. It is now a central part of Corsican national identity, and is sometimes linked to calls for autonomy or independence. Traditionally polyphony was sung by men, though there was the cuntrastu that included male and female voices. Women generally sang solo, for example the voceru performed exclusively by women at the deathbed. Nanne were also generally, but not exclusively, sung by women. Nowadays women also sing polyphony and are occasionally included in mixed groups.
There are essentially four types of Corsican polyphonic song: sacred, paghjella, madrigale, and terzettu.

Sacred songs are mostly in Latin and are drawn from the traditional Catholic Mass. These songs include “Dio vi salvi Regina” (“Hymn to the Virgin Mary”), which has become the Corsican anthem.

The paghjella is the oldest and most representative polyphony. It varies in the way it is sung from region to region. Within the paghjella form, the interpretation of each song is open to a fair amount of improvisation by different groups. Individual singers often make extensive use of the ribucatta, a free form of ornamentation with vibrato that creates a slight time lag with the other singers. The paghjella was often used to accompany work, and at family or village gatherings.

The madrigale is a very old song form. Its name derives from the Latin cantus materialis and means “song of soil.” It is a form of secular poetry, often a love song, dating back to the end of the 13th century. Around 1530 it was developed further, and influenced the music and the composers of the Renaissance. It was used throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond, often written in lingua toscana, the old language of Tuscany. This type of polyphonic song has now completely disappeared, except on the island of Corsica. The form still thrives in the village of Tagliu Isulacciu, the home of I Muvrini. Jules Bernardini, father of Jean-François and Alain, took an active role in preserving these old songs.

The terzettu, often a lament of love or exile, dates back to the Middle Ages. As with the madrigale it is written in the old Tuscan language. It is composed of three verses, each of 11 syllables, and is in an erudite poetic style.

I Muvrini
Jean-François Bernardini, Vocals, Guitar, Leader
Alain Bernardini, Vocals
Stephane Mangiantini, Vocals
Jean-Charles Adami, Vocals
Achim Meier, Piano
Loic Taillebrest, Flute, Oboe, Bagpipes, Clarinet
Pierre Michelangeli, Drums

I Muvrini, Corsica’s leading group and one of Europe’s most popular bands, has become a standard of traditional vocal ensemble work. Named after an endangered species of wild sheep in Corsica’s mountainous regions, the group was formed in the late 1970s by the brothers Jean-François and Alain Bernardini to preserve and promote Corsican culture. Its repertoire includes songs dealing with a love for the island, and the threatened Corsican language and culture, as well as songs that deal with peace, tolerance, and a dream of unity.

The brothers were introduced to traditional polyphonic music at an early age by their father Jules Bernardini, a well-known poet and singer, in their village of Tagliu Isulaccia in northern Corsica. They sang their first paghjellas (“traditional secular chants”) with their father in 1970 and recorded their first single with him in collaboration with the group Canta u Populu Corsu. Their first album, I Muvrini ... ti ringrazianu, was completed in 1979, dedicated to the memory of their father who died in 1977.

Soon afterwards Jean-François began to write songs and set the poems of Corsican poets to music, combining these new works with traditional pieces in concerts and recordings. In the mid-1980s, I Muvrini became popular outside its homeland and its polyphonic sound found success throughout Europe. In the 1990s, I Muvrini began integrating a range of musical influences, such as pop, into its repertoire.

I Muvrini won the French music award Victoire de la Musique in 1998 and 2003, and was also nominated for the award in 2006. Its 13 albums include the 2005 Alma, which was partly recorded in Johannesburg, South Africa, with Zulu choirs, and the 2007 I Muvrini et les 500 choristes, which became its seventh French Gold Medal Record since 1994. The group has collaborated with internationally renowned artists, including Sting (with whom Jean-François recorded a duet version of Sting’s “Fields of Gold”), Haris Alexiou, Nana Mouskouri, Ute Lemper, and Sarah Brightman. I Muvrini has appeared at prestigious concert halls and festivals across North America and Europe. Its 2005 Alma tour of Europe carried the message of peace contained in the Spanish proverb “If I had a thousand souls I would give them to you all. I have only one of them, take it a thousand times."”