"SINGING
MAY",
of Carla Gambacorta
In the night between April 3O and May 1, groups of "Maggiaioli" (young people celebrating the arrival of spring by singing and serenading) used to wander around, going from house to house to annunce the arrival of spring. How? Obviously by "singing May"! Groups of young men, usually no more than 4 or 5 , armed with accordion, timbrel , kettledrums, would leave soon after sunset and, following a precise way, would stop under the windows of the houses they encountered during their trip serenading and singing "rispetti" and "stornelli" until the dawn of the heralded May. This secular tradition is characterized by various songs of which the "Cantamaggio" probably appears most frequently. Moreover it should be remembered that popular tradition is written only in our memory and that the night and the wine made improvisation and "contamination" among different songs likely. The guiding thread which binds the different verses of the "Cantamaggio" is Spring, a greeting to the season of flowers and women with continuous references to love, either requieted or denied and to the religious-marian theme. It is also characterised by witty remarks, allusions and requests for food. In the silence of the night these groups of revellers arrived in front of a house and the sound of the accordion esploded blasting peolple out of bed. Being woken up by serenades was certainly a great honour. Sometimes it even happened that competing groups of "Maggiaioli" met each other along the way and started a sort of musical duel. This tradition, the so called "Cantamaggio", still survives.We hope that the passing of time will not disperse these memories and that on the night between April 30 and May 1 there will always be someone waking us with a marvellous spring serenade.