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141than 120 Sicilianvillages and it is spread “…all over the island with the exception of thevery western zone where it was documented in the past, before the strong earthquake thatupset the social life in the area in 1968” (from the Vienna 2005 Polyphonic Conferencematerials).According to Machiarella, European type parallel thirds, chordal singing, twoandfour-part drone singing and polyphony with counterpoint elements are all present onthe island. Most of the time polyphonic singing is connected to sacred ritual singingduring the Holy week feasts. Apart from the sacred genre, polyphony is an important partof the “…heritage of an ancient peasant repertory. Today they are performed out of theirtraditional contexts, mainly within private festival banquets and gatherings, rarely duringa few villages’ feasts in the Eastern provinces” (Macchiarella, 2005).The fourth region of Italy, the island of Sardinia, has historically andculturally been the most isolated region of Italy. Italy annexed Sardinia only in 1861, andin 1948 it became an autonomous region. Sardinia has a very different set of culturalelements, including language (derived straight from old Latin), and a distinct polyphonicstyle.Sardinia is divided into four provinces: north, central, southern and western. Thecentre of the island is mountainous. This region, together with the eastern region of theisland, known as Baronia, was referred to by the Romans as Barbagia (from Latin“Barbaria” - “those who do not speak our language”, and this is interesting, taking intoaccount the most obvious and direct connection of the contemporary Sardinian languageto the language of the Romans throughout Italy). Barbagia is the main region ofdistribution of the rich traditional polyphony known as tenore. This style is still widelyspread among the local shepherds. The polyphony consists of four parts: the mainmelodic part is boghe (“voice”), the top harmony is mesa boghe (“high voice”), and twolow parts – contra and the lowest part basu. Two low voices usually sing double drone afifth apart (this can also be a fourth). The harmonic parts usually pronounce specificsyllables that make good vibrating and blending sounds (like “mbo-mbo” or “bim-mbo”).The harmony is usually based on a single chord of a tonic major triad. Melodic activity inthe top parts mostly happens within a very small range (about a third). They sing with atense and nasal voice, sometimes creating seconds with the static triadic harmony ofdroning parts. In more modern choirs the singers double or even triple the traditionallyknown parts in order to make the harmonies richer.The northern part of the island is known for the religious polyphony performed bylocal brotherhoods (groups of men who serve the Roman Catholic Church) (Lortat-Jacob,2000:627). This style of polyphony is also close to the tenore tradition, with a richreverberating harmony of a tonic triad in four parts. Voices also have the same names,except the top part, which is called here falzittu (although it is not performed withfalsetto). This singing style features unprepared modulations, relatively free metre andrhythm, and ornamented melodies.The southern part of Sardinia is not known for its vocal polyphonic tradition, butthe tradition of instrumental polyphony is central here. This region is the home of thetriple clarinet launeddas, the symbol of Sardinian culture. This instrument features adrone and two melodic pipes. Small bronze statues from the eight/seventh century B.C.depict a player of a double (or triple) blown instrument, an ancestor of the launeddas.