The exceptional discovery of a 130-year-old Sardinian dance score is finally available to the public. Dating back to 1894, the volume, "Ballo Sardo per pianoforte a due mani" (Sardinian Dance for Two-Handed Piano), was reconstructed and republished in 2013. The Iscandula association will present the score on Friday the 17th in the parish hall of Nostra Signora di Fatima in Giorgino, accompanied by its collaborators. The evening will also include live music, choreography, and traditional dances.
It all began with the rediscovery, in 2013, of thirty-two pages of Sardinian dance scores for piano by Luigi Silesu, father of the famous composer Lao Silesu, a work of incredible importance in that it largely predates the first sound documentation, dating back only to 1930. Initially published in 1894 by Edizioni dello Stabilimento Musicale di Adolfo Lapini in Florence with the full title "Ballo Sardo per pianoforte a due mani dedicato All'On. Municipio di Cagliari", in 1896 the author Guido Giacomelli indicated it as a transcription of a launeddas sonata, of whose musical language Silesu senior demonstrated an extraordinary knowledge. Thus, in the year of its rediscovery, the Iscandula association immediately understood the value of the work, bringing it back from the darkness with a new edition enhanced by the analysis and critical rewriting of Salvatorangelo Pisanu, the historical research and editorial work of Marcello Furio Pili, and even a CD with the performance of the score by Fabrizio Marchionni. on the piano, plus Bruno Camedda's adaptation for accordion.
Friday's event will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Giorgino parish hall, with Pisanu and Pili providing the lectures, along with musical contributions from Camedda and Marchionni, who will perform the "Ballo Sardo" live, accompanied by choreography by Sardinian dance instructors Tonio Spiga and Cristina Deiana. The score will also be set to music by Simona Pittau, flutist of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, supported by oriental dance performer Elisa Kawak Serra. For the hearing-impaired, interpreter Laura Frau will provide assistance in both performances. Once this first part of the evening is over, we will move to the padel court in front of the parish hall, where Iscandula will repeat the event (originated in 1997) "Bell'arrosa, sa primu discoteca de ballu sardu in su mundu", where the public will be able to enjoy traditional dances with the musical contribution of Cosimo Lampis on percussion, Gianluca Piras on launeddas, Celio Mocco on the accordion and Pietro Tanda on the accordion.
The initiative is part of the celebrations for the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the association led by Dante Olianas, which is constantly committed to researching and promoting Sardinian musical tradition. It is supported by the Fondazione Sardegna, the Municipality of Cagliari, the Region, and the Ministry of Culture.