Have you ever thought why Italian is the language of music? Pick up a musical score and instructions will tell you, for example, to play or sing allegro non troppo (fast but not too fast) or to take it easy: rallentando, slow down!
I was reminded of this Italian domination of the classical musical scene by an article in the L’Italo Americano magazine. It says: “If you are a musician or an opera fanatic, you are bound to know some Italian, as our beautiful language is regarded as the language of music across the world.
“You only need to pick up any score to understand it: piano, pianissimo and forte, allegro, andante, and maestoso are only some of the indications every musician and singer follows every day while practicing and performing.
“Then, of course, there is opera, whose libretti, the “lyrics†of the musical score itself, have always been very much an all-Italian affair: from Mozart to Handel, they all relied on Italian when it came to their operas, even if Mozart did often opt for his language, German, as well. A notable exception to the trend was Wagner, for whom the use of his native idiom was a signifier of national pride and patriotism.â€
The article explains how it all began in the 17th and 18th centuries, when Italian music dominated the scene, so performers became used to understanding the instructions on scores. “Soon enough composers from every corner of the old continent woulduse Italian to provide essential performing indications to musicians.â€
At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Italians also invented opera, that unique blend of poetry, music and theatre, with such stars as Jacopo Peri and Claudio Monteverdi, so not only were the instructions written in Italian, but the stories themselves were told in the beautiful language that lends itself perfectly to expressing emotion.
Our thanks to L’Italo Americano.You can read the article, by clicking here. And you can learn more about the beautiful, musical language by coming on our unique Italian Language course at the Watermill this autumn. We have nine people already booked in, so we have room for three more guests to join and learn our musical language.
Our unique Italian Language course
Giulia Balestri
15-22 October 2022 Three places left
A novel approach to learning Italian
To learn more about Giulia and our unique Italian week at the mill, please click here.