Sicily: Music for the Holy Week

During Holy Week, proceeding Easter, many Sicilian villages celebrate with costumed processions through the streets. Often accompanied by music on themes of the Passion, these popular parade ceremonies have roots in agrarian pre-Christian rites. The songs are mostly sung in distorted Latin, though some are in Italian, and feature a polyphonic structure and choral style with soloing. Some of the songs included on this album are derivations of ancient liturgical hymns, while others are lighter, more modern compositions. These songs were recorded under the supervision of Elsa Guggino and Girolamo Garofalo in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. The liner notes are in English, French, and Italian.

Track Listing

101	Invocations of the “nudi” and of the Faithful	Good Friday procession participants, Assorus, Sicily	01:43
102	Miserere	A. Castro, S. Chirdo, F. Falcone, M. Salatino	03:33
103	Birbanti di Giuda chi facisti	G. Alongi, C. Barbaro, P. Casà, F. Pirrone, other male voices	03:14
104	Ecce lignum crucis	G. Alongi, C. Barbaro, P. Casà, F. Pirrone, other male voices	04:35
105	Arzu l'uocci e talìu supra nu munti	G. Burgaretta, S. Burgaretta, F. Cavaliere, G. Collo, G. Fontana, O. Nardone, S. Scala, C. Signorello	04:51
106	Gesuzzu ca nti l'uortu fu pigliatu	I. Baronc, P. Giordano, G. Tasca, other male voices	01:48
107	Stabat Mater	G. Arganello, G. Castello, A. Cicero, G. Greco, V. Lo Manio, G. N. Ognibene	05:04
108	Una lacrima sulla tomba di mia madre	G. Verdie band, F. Frangipane	07:11
109	Populu me	S. Licciardi, V. Licciardi, N. Palmieri, S. Zavattieri, other mixed voices	03:35
110	Quanti martiri ha potuto passare	A. Licciardi and other mixed voices	03:08
111	Gloria (1)	C. Genco, G. Genco, M. Lombardo, P. Mendola, G. Milazzo, G. Pace, A. Randazzo, C. Randazzo, R. Randazzo	03:15
112	La quarta spada (The 4th Sorrow)	Don S. Curatolo, R. Failla, G. Minardi, R. Sciacca, G. Catanzaro	02:34
113	La quinta spada (The 5th Sorrow)	Don S. Curatolo, R. Failla, G. Minardi, R. Sciacca, G. Catanzaro	01:17
114	La sesta spada (The 6th Sorrow)	Don S. Curatolo, R. Failla, G. Minardi, R. Sciacca, G. Catanzaro	01:54
115	Gloria (2)	M. Tuzo, V. Spina	01:15