The ‘Canzonetta in lode alla Santissima Trinità’. Roles and rules of a devotion expressed through singing

In Central Italy, not too far from Rome, there is a shrine consecrated to the Holy Trinity. Since hundreds of years, thousands of pilgrims from the entire Lazio region and also from the Abruzzi region go there organized in companies of their own villages. Many of them still go by foot, traveling for tens of kilometers through predetermined paths in nature and villages. During the trip and the “visit” (as the pilgrims call their presence at the shrine), the devotion is expressed through music, singing or playing a narrow amount of songs. In particular, pilgrims execute the “Canzoncina in lode alla Santissima Trinità” (“Ditty of praise of the Holy Trinity”). This narrative song has been played at least since the beginning of the last century. It can be performed in heterophony, in monody or polyphony and every company adapts it to a peculiar version, through modifications of rhythm and melody, representative of the company itself. This does not mean that every company sings always in the same way. In this kaleidoscopic kind of performance, some pilgrims have a leading role, in order to preserve the style of their own company, or to change it. They can sing, play an instrument or declaim the words of the song. I have written a book on this pilgrimage, but I have only marginally paid attention to these specific features. Through some video examples, pilgrim’s statements and musical analysis, I would like to describe and analyze the position of these individuals in the company. The focus of my intervention will be the leading role in the performance, the awareness and response of the group and the meaning of the interaction between leader/s and group within the company.