Sicily: Music for the Holy Week

by Various Artists

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.