1.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
2.
Tuscan dialect
–
Tuscan is an Italo-Dalmatian variety mainly spoken in Tuscany, Italy. It would later become the language of all the Italian states. Tuscan is a complex composed of many local variants, with minor differences among them. The main subdivision is between Northern Tuscan dialects and Southern Tuscan dialects, the Northern Tuscan dialects are, Fiorentino, the main dialect of Florence, Chianti and the Mugello region, also spoken in Prato and along the river Arno as far as the city of Fucecchio. Pistoiese, spoken in the city of Pistoia and nearest zones, pesciatino or Valdinievolese, spoken in the Valdinievole zone, in the cities of Pescia and Montecatini Terme. Lucchese, spoken in Lucca and nearby hills, versiliese, spoken in the historical area of Versilia. Viareggino, spoken in Viareggio and vicinity, pisano-Livornese, spoken in Pisa and in Livorno and the vicinity, and along the southern coast as far as the city of Piombino. The Southern Tuscan dialects are, Aretino-Chianaiolo, spoken in Arezzo, senese, spoken in the city and province of Siena. Grossetano, spoken in the city and province of Grosseto, Corsican and Gallurese, Corsican on the island of Corsica, and its variety spoken in Sardinia, are classified by scholars as a direct offshoot from medieval Tuscan. Excluding the inhabitants of Province of Massa and Carrara, who speak an Emilian variety of a Gallo-Italic language, the Tuscan dialect as a whole has certain defining features, with subdialects that are distinguished by minor details. The Tuscan gorgia affects the voiceless stop consonants /k/ /t/ and /p/, between vowels, the voiced post-alveolar affricate consonant is realized as voiced post-alveolar fricative, /dʒ/ →. This phenomenon is evident in daily speech, the phrase la gente, the people, in standard Italian is pronounced. Similarly, the voiceless affricate is pronounced as a voiceless post-alveolar fricative between two vowels, /tʃ/ →. The sequence /la ˈtʃena/ la cena, the dinner, in standard Italian is pronounced, as a result of this weakening rule, there are a few minimal pairs distinguished only by length of the voiceless fricative. A less common phenomenon is the transformation of voiceless s or voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ into the voiceless alveolar affricate when preceded by /r/, /l/. For example, il sole, pronounced in standard Italian as, however, since assimilation of the final consonant of the article to the following consonant tends to occur in exactly such cases the actual pronunciation will be usually. Affrication of /s/ can more commonly be heard word-internally, as in falso /ˈfalso/ → and this is a common phenomenon in Central Italy, but it is not exclusive to that area, for example it also happens in Switzerland. There are two Tuscan historical outcomes of Latin ŏ in stressed open syllables, passing first through a stage, the vowel then develops as a diphthong /wɔ/
3.
Languages of Italy
–
There are a large number of local languages spoken in Italy, most of which are indigenous evolutions of Vulgar Latin, and thus are classified as Romance languages. The official and most widely spoken language is Italian, a descendant of Tuscan and this is generally not the case in regards to the languages of Italy, as they are, for the most part, not varieties of Standard Italian. In fact, Standard Italian is itself either a continuation of, or a dialect heavily based on, there are several minority languages that belong to other Indo-European branches, such as Cimbrian, Arbëresh, the Slavomolisano dialect of Serbo-Croatian, and Griko. Other non-indigenous languages are spoken by a percentage of the population due to immigration. The following minority languages are recognized as historical language minorities by the Law no. 482/1999, Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Slovene, Croatian, French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Ladin, the selection of those varieties to the exclusion of numerous others is a matter of some controversy. The law also makes a distinction between those who are considered minority groups and those who are not, the original Italian Constitution does not explicitly express that Italian is the official national language. Code for civil procedure – In tutto il processo è prescritto luso della lingua italiana, code for criminal procedure – Gli atti del procedimento penale sono compiuti in lingua italiana. Article 1 of law 482/1999 – La lingua ufficiale della Repubblica è litaliano, aosta Valley, French is co-official in the whole region, German is unofficial but recognised in the Lys Valley. Campania, Neapolitan is promoted, but not recognised, by the region, friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friulian and Slovene are promoted, but not recognised, by the region. Piedmont, Piedmontese is unofficial but recognised as the language, the region promotes, without recognising. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, German is co-official in the province of South Tyrol, Ladin, Cimbrian and Mòcheno are unofficial, veneto, Venetian is unofficial but recognised. According to the UNESCOs Atlas of the Worlds Languages in Danger, the degree of endangerment is classified in different categories ranging from safe to extinct. The source for the distribution is the Atlas of the Worlds Languages in Danger unless otherwise stated. 30 settlements in northern Calabria as well as San Costantino Albanese and San Paolo Lucano in southern Basilicata, settlements in southern Calabria, all living languages indigenous to Italy are part of the Indo-European language family. The source is the SILs Ethnologue unless otherwise stated, language classification can be a controversial issue, when a classification is contested by academic sources, this is reported in the notes column. They can be divided into Romance languages and non-Romance languages, not included is Corsican, which is mainly spoken on the French island of Corsica. Istriot is only spoken in Croatia, Sardinian is a distinct language group with significant phonological and morphological differences among its varieties
4.
Accademia della Crusca
–
The Accademia della Crusca, generally abbreviated as La Crusca, is an Italian society for scholars and Italian linguists and philologists established in Florence. It is the most important research institution on Italian language as well as the oldest linguistic academy in the world, the Accademia was founded in Florence in 1583 and it has been characterized by its efforts to maintain the purity of the Italian language. The academy motto is Il più bel fior ne coglie, a verse of the Italians poet Francesco Petrarca. The academy is a member of the European Federation of National Linguistic Institutes, the Federation has two Italian members, the Accademia della Crusca and the Opera del Vocabolario Italiano del CNR. The founders were called the brigata dei Crusconi and constituted a kind of circle, where the members included poets, men of letters. The Crusconi battled against the classical pedantry of the Accademia through the use of humour, satire, however, it was important that this battle was fought without compromising the primary intention of the group, which was typically literary, and expounded in high quality literary disputes. One of the earliest scholars to influence the work of the Crusca was Agnolo Monosini, the Accademia thus abandoned the jocular character of its earlier meetings in order to take up the normative role it would assume from then on. The very title of the Accademia came to be interpreted in a new way, from this is derived the symbolism of the Crusca, its logo shows a frullone or sifter with the Petrarchan motto Il più bel fior ne coglie. The members of the Accademia were given nicknames associated with corn and flour, the Accademias activities carried on with both high- and low- points until 1783, when Pietro Leopoldo quit and, with several other academicians, created the second Accademia Fiorentina. In the 20th century, the decree of 11 March 1923 changed its composition, in 1955, however, Bruno Migliorini and others began discussion of the return of the work of preparing the Vocabolario to the Crusca. The Italian Academies, in, Collected Essays, vol, II, Renaissance and Reform, the Italian Contribution, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul,1983 ISBN 0-7100-9530-9 Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E
5.
Veronese Riddle
–
It was a very popular riddle in the Middle Ages and has survived into dialects to date. Discovered by Luigi Schiaparelli in 1924, it is considered the first document ever written in the Italian language along with the Placiti Cassinesi and this person is the writer himself, the monk whose business is to copy old manuscripts. The two oxen are his fingers which draw a white feather across the page, leaving black ink marks and this document dates to the late 10th-early 11th century and was followed by a small thanksgiving prayer in Latin, gratias tibi agimus omnips sempiterne ds. These lines were written on codex LXXXIX of the Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona and it was then brought to Cagliari and then Pisa before reaching the Chapter of Verona. Many more European documents seem to confirm that the traits of Romance languages occurred all around the same time. Some words stick indeed to the rules of Latin grammar, yet more are distinctly Italian, with no cases and producing the typical ending of Italian verbs, pareba, araba, teneba, seminaba instead of Latin parebat, arabat, tenebat, seminabat. Albo versorio and negro semen have replaced Latin album versorium and nigrum semen, versorio is still the word for plow in todays Veronese dialect as the verb parar is still the word for push on, drive, lead. Michele A. Cortelazzo and Ivano Paccagnella say that the plural -es of boves may well be considered Ladin and therefore not Latin, albo is early Italian, especially since German blank entered Italian usage later, leading to current Italian bianco. Latin language Romance languages Venetian language Italian language Notes Indovinello Veronese Indovinello Veronese
6.
Placiti Cassinesi
–
They are considered the first documents ever written in the Italian language along with the Veronese Riddle. Original text, Sao ke kelle terre, per kelle fini que ki contene, capua, Marzo 960 Sao cco kelle terre, per kelle fini que tebe monstrai, Pergoaldi foro, que ki contene, et trenta anni le possette. Sessa, Marzo 963 Kella terra, per kelle fini que bobe mostrai, sancte Marie è, teano, Luglio 963 Sao cco kelle terre, per kelle fini que tebe mostrai, trenta anni le possette parte sancte Marie. Teano, Ottobre 963 Modern Italian, So che quelle terre per quei confini che qui sono contenuti le possedette per trentanni la parte di San Benedetto. Capua, Marzo 960 So che quelle terre, per quei confini che ti mostrai, furono di Pergolardo, sessa, Marzo 963 Quella terra per quei confini che a voi mostrai è di Santa Maria e per trentanni la possedette la parte di Santa Maria. Teano, Luglio 963 So che quelle terre per quei confini che ti mostrai per trentanni le possedette la parte di Santa Maria. Teano, Ottobre 963 Translated, I know those lands, whose borders are shown in the map, have been owned by St. Benedicts region for thirty years. Capua, March 960 I know those lands, whose borders I have showed you, were property of Pergolardo, and here are part of, and it has owned them for thirty years. Sessa, March 963 That land, whose borders I have showed you, is property of St. Marie, teano, July 963 I know those lands, whose borders I have showed you, have been owned by St. Marie for thirty years. With these documents, after the deposition of three witnesses, the judge stated that the three monasteries were the legitimate owners of the lands. Latin language Romance languages Italian language
7.
Sicilian School
–
The Sicilian School was a small community of Sicilian, and to a lesser extent, mainland Italian poets gathered around Frederick II, most of them belonging to his court, the Magna Curia. Headed by Giacomo da Lentini, they produced more than three-hundred poems of love between 1230 and 1266, the experiment being continued after Fredericks death by his son, Manfred. These poets drew inspiration from the poetry of Occitania written in langue doc. In the lower Middle Ages more and more women were reading books than ever before and poetry tried to adapt to their point of view and this features French poetry, then very influential in Italy. It is lyric poetry to be in the forefront of literature and that is why the new standard was a Koiné language, a melting pot of many different vernaculars. The reason for moving from city to city was mainly political, frederic was in fact dismantling the feudal system of government inherited from the Normans, his magna curia and minor dignitaries were usually chosen from lay orders. He also abolished internal barriers, free trade brought prosperity to the South, but, keeping this modern state afloat, meant that his barons had no power to collect taxes, their greatest source of revenues. Hence the necessity for Frederick to bring law and order by moving his court to, there is a visible move towards neoplatonic models, which will be embraced by Dolce Stil Novo in the later 13th century Bologna and Florence, and more markedly by Petrarch. Unlike the Northern Italian troubadours, no line is written in Occitan. Rather, the Occitan repertoire of chivalry terms is adapted to the Siculo-Italian phonetics and morphology, so that new Italian words are actually coined, some adapted, a most famous specimen is Io maggio posto in core by Giacomo da Lentini, who apparently inspired the movement. Giacomo da Lentini is also credited by scholars for inventing the sonnet. He uses it in a number of poems, in this respect, the poetry of the north, though stuck to the langues doïl, provided fresher blood for satire. The re-shaping of the Occitan model also involved the suppression of music and that meant no interchangeable lines as in troubadour poetry and fewer repetitions, for a French jongleur who sang his poems these were necessary, but they sounded redundant to the Sicilian authors. Their poetry was music to the eye, not to the ear, the sonnet is even more exacting on this point, the separation between the octave and the sestet is purely a logical one, the rimes drawing a visual line between the first and last part. However, the fact that Italian poetry was being made for the public may have facilitated its circulation. This Contrasto is written in a Sicilian language close to that spoken in the city of Messina, the subject is a humorous fight between two young lovers, a kind of poetry quite common in the Middle Ages. It is about a suitor who sneaks into the garden of a young lady from a rich Sicilian family and secretly declares his love to her. However, the language uses much of the language of lyric poetry
8.
Divine Comedy
–
The Divine Comedy is a long narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c.1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work in Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature, the poems imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written and it is divided into three parts, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. On the surface, the poem describes Dantes travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven, but at a level, it represents, allegorically. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy, consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called the Summa in verse. The work was simply titled Comedìa and the word Divina was added by Giovanni Boccaccio. The first printed edition to add the word divina to the title was that of the Venetian humanist Lodovico Dolce, the Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into three canticas – Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso – each consisting of 33 cantos. An initial canto, serving as an introduction to the poem and generally considered to be part of the first cantica, the number three is prominent in the work, represented in part by the number of canticas and their lengths. Additionally, the scheme used, terza rima, is hendecasyllabic, with the lines composing tercets according to the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc. Written in the first person, the tells of Dantes journey through the three realms of the dead, lasting from the night before Good Friday to the Wednesday after Easter in the spring of 1300. The Roman poet Virgil guides him through Hell and Purgatory, Beatrice, Dantes ideal woman, within each group of 9,7 elements correspond to a specific moral scheme, subdivided into three subcategories, while 2 others of greater particularity are added to total nine. For example, the seven sins of the Catholic Church that are cleansed in Purgatory are joined by special realms for the Late repentant. The core seven sins within Purgatory correspond to a scheme of love perverted, subdivided into three groups corresponding to excessive love, deficient love, and malicious love. In central Italys political struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines, Dante was part of the Guelphs, who in general favored the Papacy over the Holy Roman Emperor, florences Guelphs split into factions around 1300, the White Guelphs and the Black Guelphs. The last word in each of the three canticas is stelle, the poem begins on the night before Good Friday in the year 1300, halfway along our lifes path. Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a low place where the sun is silent, Dante is at last rescued by Virgil, the circles number 9, with the addition of Satan completing the structure of 9 +1 =10. Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the land in the Southern Hemisphere
9.
Accademia degli Arcadi
–
The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dellArcadia, Academy of Arcadia or Academy of the Arcadians, was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi, there she became a significant patron of music and opera, with composers including Alessandro Scarlatti, Alessandro Stradella and Arcangelo Corelli dedicating works to her. After her death in 1689, the academy was established in her memory, the Academy lasted for the next two hundred years, remaining a leading cultural institution into the 20th century. The Academy chose as its emblem the pipe of Pan with its seven unequal reeds, the fourteen founders selected as the first Custode di Arcadia or president of the academy, Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni who was the author of a history of Italian poetry and of various literary works. The Arcadians resolved to return to the fields of truth, always singing of subjects of pastoral simplicity, the ideal parameters for the artistic work were simplicity and a sense of measure and beauty. Common to all the poets was the desire to oppose the poetry of the Marinists, norms and rituals of the academy took their cue from classic and pastoral mythology, as in the custom of assuming pastoral names. The fourteen founder members included the librettist Silvio Stampiglia, the first solemn gathering of the Arcadians was held on the Janiculum hill, in a wood belonging to the Reformed Minorites, on 5 October 1690. In 1692, the meetings were transferred to the gardens of Duke Orsini on the Esquiline hill, in 1696, to the Farnese gardens on the Palatine. Finally, the generosity of John V of Portugal, one of its members under the name of Arete Melleo, here they held their meetings in summer days, in winter moving to the Teatro degli Arcadi in the Palazzo Salviati. In 1696 the Accademia admitted seven musicians including Giovanni Bononcini, while the academy was still on the Palatine, its Statuto or Constitution was drawn up. This constitution was modelled on the ancient Roman laws of the Twelve Tables, because of these differences Gravina left to found the Accademia dei Quirini in 1711. Despite this loss, Arcadia retained its vigour in the following years, many noblemen, ecclesiastics, and artists held membership of it to be an honour, and very soon it numbered 1,300. The celebrated opera librettist Pietro Metastasio although he had his own differences with Arcadia, was a student of Gravinas, and a leading light of the academys second generation. His works, of which the best remembered might be Il Re Pastore because of its setting by Mozart, may represent the closest thing to a justification of its program that Arcadia achieved. In 1795, the academy admitted the Italian Diodata Saluzzo Roero, as one of its first female members, a violent anti-Arcadian reaction soon developed, and, starting from the early 19th century, Arcadianism began to be regarded as a late and unconvincing expression of the ancien régime. The Academy no longer represented a literary school, but a general interest in the classics, furthermore, the Academys field of endeavour was enlarged to include many branches of study, including history and archaeology. The new Arcadian revival was marked by the foundation of the Giornale Arcadico, in 1925 the Academy was renamed to become the Arcadia - Accademia Letteraria Italiana, a historical institute. The Accademia degi Arcadi counted among its members some of the literary men of the time, including Menzini, Redi, Metastasio, Rolli, Guidi
10.
The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)
–
The Betrothed is an Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1827, in three volumes. It has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language. Set in northern Italy in 1628, during the years of direct Spanish rule, it is seen as a veiled attack on the Austrian Empire. It is also noted for the description of the plague that struck Milan around 1630. I promessi sposi was made into an opera of the name by Amilcare Ponchielli in 1856. There have been many versions of I promessi sposi, including I promessi sposi, The Betrothed The Betrothed. In May 2015, at a general audience at St. Peters Square. Manzoni hatched the basis for his novel in 1821 when he read a 1627 Italian edict that specified penalties for any priest who refused to perform a marriage when requested to do so, more material for his story came from Giuseppe Ripamontis Milanese Chronicles. The first version, Fermo e Lucia, was written between April 1821 and September 1823 and he then heavily revised it, finishing in August 1825, it was published on 15 June 1827, after two years of corrections and proof-checking. Manzonis chosen title, Gli sposi promessi, was changed for the sake of euphony shortly before its final commitment to printing, in the early 19th century, there was still some controversy as to what form the standard literary language of Italy should take. Manzoni was firmly in favour of the dialect of Florence and, after washing his vocabulary on the banks of the Arno, Renzo and Lucia, a couple in an unnamed Lombard village near Lake Como, are planning to wed on 8 November 1628. The parish priest, Don Abbondio, is walking home on the eve of the wedding when he is accosted by two bravoes who warn him not to perform the marriage, because the local baron has forbidden it. When he presents himself for the ceremony, Renzo is amazed to hear that the marriage is to be postponed. An argument ensues and Renzo succeeds in extracting from the priest the name of Don Rodrigo and it turns out that Don Rodrigo has his eye on Lucia and that he had a bet about her with his cousin Count Attilio. Lucias mother, Agnese, advises Renzo to ask the advice of Dr. Azzeccagarbugli, Dr. Lucia sends a message to Fra Cristoforo, a respected Capuchin friar at the monastery of Pescarenico, asking him to come as soon as he can. When Don Rodrigo is taken aside by the friar, he explodes with anger at his presumption and sends him away, meanwhile, Lorenzo comes up with a plan. In those days, it was possible for two people to marry by declaring themselves married before a priest and in the presence of two amenable witnesses, Renzo runs to his friend Tonio and offers him 25 lire if he agrees to help. When Fra Cristoforo returns with the bad news, they decide to put their plan into action, the next morning, Lucia and Agnese are visited by beggars, Don Rodrigos men in disguise
11.
Italian literature
–
Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, an early example of Italian literature is the tradition of vernacular lyric poetry performed in Occitan, which reached Italy by the end of the 12th century. In 1230, the Sicilian School is notable for being the first style in standard Italian, Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest of Italian poets, is notable for his Divine Comedy. Petrarch did classical research and wrote lyric poetry, Renaissance humanism developed during the 14th and the beginning of the 15th centuries. Humanists sought to create a citizenry able to speak and write with eloquence, early humanists, such as Petrarch, were great collectors of antique manuscripts. Lorenzo de Medici shows the influence of Florence on the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci wrote a treatise on painting. The development of the drama in the 15th century was very great, the fundamental characteristic of the era following Renaissance is that it perfected the Italian character of its language. Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini were the originators of the science of history. Pietro Bembo was a figure in the development of the Italian language. In 1690 the Academy of Arcadia was instituted with the goal of restoring literature by imitating the simplicity of the ancient shepherds with sonnets, madrigals, canzonette and blank verse. In the 18th century, the condition of Italy began to improve. Apostolo Zeno and Metastasio are two of the figures of the age. Carlo Goldoni, a Venetian, created the comedy of character, the leading figure of the literary revival of the 18th century was Giuseppe Parini. The ideas behind the French Revolution of 1789 gave a direction to Italian literature in the second half of the 18th century. Love of liberty and desire for equality created a literature aimed at national object, patriotism and classicism were the two principles that inspired the literature that began with Vittorio Alfieri. Other patriots included Vincenzo Monti and Ugo Foscolo, the romantic school had as its organ the Conciliatore established in 1818 at Milan. The main instigator of the reform was Manzoni, the great poet of the age was Giacomo Leopardi. History returned to its spirit of learned research, after the Risorgimento, political literature becomes less important
12.
Music of Italy
–
The music of Italy ranges across a broad spectrum of opera and instrumental classical music and a body of popular music drawn from both native and imported sources. Music has traditionally one of the cultural markers of Italian national and ethnic identity and holds an important position in society. Instrumental and vocal music is an iconic part of Italian identity, spanning experimental art music and international fusions to symphonic music. Opera is integral to Italian musical culture, and has become a segment of popular music. Italian folk music is an important part of the musical heritage. Italian music has held up in high esteem in history. More than other elements of Italian culture, Italian music is generally eclectic, No parochial protectionist movement has ever attempted to keep Italian music pure and free from foreign influence, except briefly under the Fascist regime of the 1920s and 30s. As a result, Italian music has elements of the many peoples that have dominated or influenced the country, including French, German. The countrys historical contributions to music are also an important part of national pride, Italy has a strong sense of national identity through distinctive culture - a sense of an appreciation of beauty and emotionality, which is strongly evidenced in the music. Cultural, political and social issues are also expressed through music in Italy. Allegiance to music is integrally woven into the identity of Italians. Most folk musics are localized, and unique to a region or city. The musical output of Italy remains characterized by diversity and creative independence a rich variety of types of expression. With the growing industrialization that accelerated during the 20th and 21st century, Italian society gradually moved from a base to an urban. Immigration from North Africa, Asia, and other European countries led to diversification of Italian music. Traditional music came to exist only in pockets, especially as part of dedicated campaigns to retain local musical identities. Music and politics have been intertwined for centuries in Italy, composers who strayed ran certain risks. Among the best known of such cases was the Neapolitan composer Domenico Cimarosa, when the republic fell, he was tried for treason along with other revolutionaries
13.
Italian philosophy
–
Italy over the ages has had a vast influence on Western philosophy, beginning with the Greeks and Romans, and going onto Renaissance humanism, the Age of Enlightenment and modern philosophy. Roman philosophy was influenced by that of Greece. Italian Medieval philosophy was mainly Christian, and included several important philosophers, Aquinas was the student of Albert the Great, a brilliant Dominican experimentalist, much like the Franciscan, Roger Bacon of Oxford in the 13th century. Aquinas reintroduced Aristotelian philosophy to Christianity and he believed that there was no contradiction between faith and secular reason. He believed that Aristotle had achieved the pinnacle in the human striving for truth and he was a professor at the prestigious University of Paris. The Renaissance was an essentially Italian movement, and also a period of the arts. As with all periods, there is a drift of dates, reasons for categorization. In particular, the Renaissance, more than later periods, is thought to begin in Italy with the Italian Renaissance and roll through Europe. Renaissance Humanism was a European intellectual movement that was a component of the Renaissance, beginning in Florence in the latter half of the 14th century. The humanist movement developed from the rediscovery by European scholars of Latin literary, initially, a humanist was simply a scholar or teacher of Latin literature. Humanism offered the necessary intellectual and philological tools for the first critical analysis of texts, an early triumph of textual criticism by Lorenzo Valla revealed the Donation of Constantine to be an early medieval forgery produced in the Curia. Italian Renaissance humanists believed that the arts should be practiced by all levels of richness. They also approved of self, human worth and individual dignity and they hold the belief that everything in life has a determinate nature, but mans privilege is to be able to choose his own path. He finally took thought concerning the creation of man, the nature of all other beings is limited and constrained within the bounds of law. Thou shalt have the power to degenerate into the forms of life. Thou shalt have the power, out of thy souls judgement, to be born into the higher forms, Italy was also affected by a movement called Neoplatonism, which was a movement which had a general revival of interest in Classical antiquity. Interest in Platonism was especially strong in Florence under the Medici, in 1459 John Argyropoulos was lecturing on Greek language and literature at Florence, and Marsilio Ficino became his pupil. Following suggestions laid out by Gemistos Plethon, Ficino tried to synthesize Christianity and his most famous work was The Prince
