Corsican polyphonies, the sacred fire of spirituality

This very ancient tradition dates back to the time when shepherds sang during agricultural work and religious ceremonies. Since the 1970s, it has experienced a real renaissance, with the “Riacquistu” movement, a movement of “reappropriation” (that’s the meaning of the word) of Corsican culture and identity. Many groups like I Muvrini popularized polyphonies. Even if all the songs are not sacred, “they always take on the sacred”, assures Stéphane Paganelli, of the Sartène Men’s Choir (Southern Corsica), also a professor of history and geography in college.

This tradition of Sartène polyphonies was born in the 18th century under the leadership of Franciscan Brothers, some of whom were chapel masters at the Vatican. The songs were then in Gregorian and this influence of learned religious music has remained significant over the centuries. The Sartène Choir, one of the most famous, is directed by Jean-Paul Poletti who created it in 1995 and who played an important role in the revival of this tradition throughout the Isle of Beauty.

In Sartène, the symbolism of fire is fundamental and sometimes accompanies the Choir’s performances. “Seven candlesticks are lit especially when we sing during the catenacciuthis sort of giant Stations of the Cross on Good Friday for which thousands of people from all over the island flock, testifies Stéphane Paganelli. There are seven because we are six singers – two basses, two baritones, two tenors – and the seventh candlestick represents those who are absent, the divine. Fire purifies, represents the light that reassures. Hope when you have lost everything. The strength to continue in the vicissitudes of life. Out of modesty, we do not say that we evangelize, but yes, there is some of that.”