Orgosolo

The town of Orgosolo is located in the heart of Barbagia, in the province of Nuoro. It is one of the most representative centers of the culture of pastoralism which has determined its development, community life, customs and traditions.

The town is known for the "Battle of Pratobello" won by the Orgolese shepherds against the establishment of a military base that would have occupied most of the best pastures.

Due to its history and its vicissitudes, Orgosolo has always been at the center of the interest of scholars and artists and today the murals that adorn the streets are the destination of thousands of tourists. Orgosolo is also one of the most important centers for the culture of cantu a tenore.

It is so in quantitative terms, due to the high number of singers it has always had, but also in qualitative terms because the orgolese singers have really made the history of cantu a tenore in Sardinia and outside the island.

There are numerous historical recordings of Orgolese songs starting from those of the CNSMP of the ‘50s and ‘60s, up to those recorded by the groups organized in all these years. In Orgosolo, singing permeates community life, mainly in the profane sphere but also on some occasions in the sacred sphere.

In all orgolese songs the cantu a tenore is performed with the guttural voices of contra and bassu and also the mesu boghe has guttural resonances that emphasize the harmonics. The repertoire of songs presents sa boghe a sa sèria and a tumbadas, sa boghe lestra, su passu torrau, sa boghe 'e ballu, sa vardeina, sos atitos a tataju meu, s'anninnia a tenore, sos gotzos de sos santos e de s 'Assunta.

Census

Orgosolo boasts 280 active singers surveyed. This is the highest number of singers present in a community, in absolute terms.

Organized Groups