PIEDMONT CHRONICLE - L'Arvista Piemontèisa

12/05/2007
Folk group Ariondassa

Having helped bring them to Milwaukee in 2005 and working with them again when they returned in 2006, I got to see the Piemontese folk group Ariondassa a lot at Festa Italiana.

On a recent visit to Piemonte, I spent some time with Ariondassa again and was able to see the entire group perform in Castell’Alfero and half of its members play again in Alessandria for an enthusiastic group of Piemontesi from around the world.

Although I didn't appreciate traditional music much when I was younger, I've changed even though the music hasn't. And, to me, the continuity of the music is the point. When I see young music fans shaking their heads (and I have seen it) at groups whose music often dates back more than a century, I wonder if they take a moment to consider what it is they're hearing.

The music that groups like Ariondassa, Tre Martelli, La Ciapa Rusa and others in Piemonte -- and thousands more from regions all over the world -- represents centuries of threatened -- but enduring -- cultures. Some of it may sound dated to our modern ears, but it's still here, surviving around the world. If our great-grandchildren are fortunate, that music will still be around for them, too.

Sure, the Beatles' music has endured 40 years, and although I think it will endure for another 100, who can say for sure? On the other hand, the traditional music that before the advent of tape was handed down from one musician to the next, has lived on because it exists for a different reason than today’s music.

The composers of festival dance tunes worked to bring joy to themselves and to the people they lived among; people whose lives were often difficult and painful and short and for whom a small town festa was the highlight of the year. If the musicians could make a little money for that work, great. But their music wasn't created strictly with commerce in mind.

The dynamic duo of Chacho Marchelli and Lorenzo Boioli, along with the understated power of Emanuela Bellis and Andrea Peasso, bolstered by the passionate musical couple Sonia Cestonaro and Rinaldo Doro are the perfect team to help bring Piemontesi music into the 21 century.


Robert Tanzilo