LAUNEDDAS

 

SARDAIGNE LAUNEDDAS

Luigi Lai, Aurelio Porcu

SARDINIA LAUNEDDAS

Ocora Radio France, 1984, 558611

Sardinia is well known for its rich vocal tradition and for the launeddas. These instruments are very old going back at least  to the 7th century B.C. and have now two chanters and one drone played by one player with circular breathing. They probably came from eastern Mediterranean perhaps with some Phoenician settlers. There are about twelve different types of launeddas with different pitches and scales. They are used for religious processions (as shown on the cover) but above all for dance music as it is the case here.
Bernard Lortat-Jacob has been working on Sardinia for years (he's a member of a religious brotherhood there) and knows perfectly Sardinian music be it vocal or instrumental. This album is very impressive thanks to L.Lai and A. Porcu, two masters of the launeddas. As usual the information given is useful although not too technical. The launeddas are really something to play and Lortat-Jacob says that at that time very few players were considered as real masters in dance music.
These triple clarinets are found in Sardinia only in Europe but they were perhaps played in Ireland during the 9h-10th century as the famous celtic Cross of  Scriptures at Clonmacnois, Co. Offaly shows. 

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