All the eras of the present century have had their song, their passionate public. Countless genres and proud authors, countless tastes and sensibilities have succeeded to put their mark on every moment,

Quale hè u Corsu chi ùn si sia innamuratu di

"Stay close to me don’t go away I love you

No doubt you don’t feel how my heart shakes ... "

Who has never hummed

"You my hat put down on my head

With my pipe still stuffed .. "?

And whistled:

"In front of the hearth full of ashes

That makes more dust than heat ... "?

And when came the last renewal, the one of 70, Corsica got a passion for:

"Who leaves for the long journey ... »

When the art of Poletti unites itself with the melisms of Rusiu.

But before songs of poets and musicians, songs of exile and songs of struggle spread through the disc or the stage, there was another form of song, the one of old tradition. This one was sometimes confined to a single village, sometimes spread over the whole island.

At the same time that its esthetic value this singing had a function, it was useful, it was made to serve. That is to say, the lullaby asleep the baby, the serenade inspired love to the girl, the “lament” appeased the pain of the one who was afflicted, banned, soldier or relative of the dead.

Through his song, let’s listen to the Corsican people laughing and crying, suffering and raging with anger, laughing and revenge.

The first function of singing was to establish contact with the supernatural powers; it was necessary to conjure demons, those from outside and those from within. This is why the first songs were the enchantments, for it was necessary to remove fear from misery from misfortune, from bad luck.

Jules Combarieu, an old French musicologist, says in a book entitled "Music and Magic" that enchantment was used by necessity, and that if there is need, it means that there is lack, deprivation, suffering . It is in this sense, says Combarieu, that musk can be considered as the daughter of sorrow or, better still, as the daughter of hope.

Ghjermana De Zerbi (1992) Cantu corsu, Cyrnos et Méditerranée, Ajaccio