" Cantami quantu voi ca t'arrispunnu,
d'amuri, gilusia, spartenza e sdegnu."
"Sing for me as much as you like, then I'll answer,
about love, jealousy, separation and despise."
Sensual love in traditional sicilian society
Is there a secret or a little truth about love between men and women hidden in the words of the songs that people living in another world, the Sicily of the last centuries, used to sing?
I felt the need to ask something about love to my ancestors, about courtship and wedding, jealousy and betrayal, about separation between lovers.
Among the myriad of love songs from the oral tradition, I choose those that speak to me in some way, and I tried to listen to this thin voice, asking myself: who singed this song? “Who” is this song? How is it speaking through me? With which voice?
MATILDE POLITI - voice and guitar