On October 15, 1954, Alan Lomax recorded various male choruses performing in the trallalero style in Genoa, Italy, as part of his year-long travels in Italy to record and document various folk musics. The trallalero is a five-part, a cappella polyphonic form, sung by five males taking falsetto, tenor, chitarra ("guitar"), baritone, and bass parts; it derives from the frequent use of "tra-la-la" syllables in the trallalero repertoire. For a time in the early 20th century, trallalero was so popular that there were "squadre di ...
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On October 15, 1954, Alan Lomax recorded various male choruses performing in the trallalero style in Genoa, Italy, as part of his year-long travels in Italy to record and document various folk musics. The trallalero is a five-part, a cappella polyphonic form, sung by five males taking falsetto, tenor, chitarra ("guitar"), baritone, and bass parts; it derives from the frequent use of "tra-la-la" syllables in the trallalero repertoire. For a time in the early 20th century, trallalero was so popular that there were "squadre di canto" or teams of vocal groups from different neighborhoods in cities. By the time Lomax recorded this, its popularity was in decline. What is most striking about the music is its tight counterpoints, high male voices (taking the "falsetto" parts) that sound to casual listeners like those of women, and buzzing bass vocals. Although most of the material is traditional in origin, there is a surprise version of "In the Mood," in which the lower parts don't sound too dissimilar to doo wop. Only one of these 14 selections was previously released. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
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