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CHAPTER 17
A Historical Overview of Musical Worship and
Culture in Medieval Sardinia 1
Giampaolo MeleThe musical landscape of Sardinia—not only in the Middle Ages—appears
historically enigmatic. A well-known, and currently very vibrant, repertory of
songs and music which belongs to the oral tradition is chronologically hard
to reconstruct. No written documents have survived the centuries prior to
the modern age, apart from the liturgical music codes of Oristano. With rare
exceptions, the history of Sardinian music, from the Middle Ages onwards,
coincides with the history of the liturgy. Certainly, what has come through
the historical records represents just a drop in an unknown, sonorous mare
magnum.
1 Obscure Origins
Following the historiographical approach of Gustave Reese, who in the first
part of his history of medieval music presents a brief outline of prehistoric
and ancient times, it seems appropriate to provide a concise reference to mu-
sical substrates in Sardinia prior to the Middle Ages.2 A famous ithyphallic
bronze figurine from Ittiri (currently in the National Archaeological Museum
of Cagliari), dating back to the prehistoric Nuragic Age and presumably to the
sixth century BC, represents an “aulete” who plays a “tricalamo,” a triple-reed
instrument which has been identified as the launeddas, the prime instrument
of Sardinian music.3 Other musical instruments, among which is the “lyre
1 I would like to thank his Excellency the Metropolitan Arborense Archbishop Ignazio Sanna
and the Most Reverend Metropolitan Arborense Chapter of the Cathedral of Oristano, for
the permission to publish the photographs 1 and 3. I also wish to thank Professors Giacomo
Baroffio and Giuseppe Serpillo for their authoritative advice and the translator Bruna Paba.
2 Gustave Reese, Music in the Middle Ages: With an Introduction on the Music of Ancient Times
(New York, 1980 [1940]), pp. 2–69.
3 Giovanni Lilliu, Sculture della Sardegna nuragica (Cagliari, 1966, reprinted: Nuoro, 2008,
with an Introduction by Alberto Moravetti), pp. 377–380, no. 183, figs. 183a-b; in the same