Gosos

The gosos or goccius are a kind of devotional and paraliturgical songs of Iberian origin typical of Sardinia, and written in the Sardinian language.[1][2]

Etymology

The term gosos and its varieties (gotzos, cotzos, and gosi in Gallurese) used in the central-northern part of Sardinia derive from the Castilian gozos,[3][lower-alpha 1] whereas in southern Sardinia the varieties goggius, goccius, and coggius derive from the Catalan goigs, which has been kept as such in the city of Alghero.[4] Both gozos and goigs seem to originate in turn from the Latin gaudium meaning "joy" or "delight".[5][6] Sergio Bullegas, to whom the gosos seem to constitute "an hagiographic genre of dramatic kind", stresses the "clear influence of the Hispano-Catalan culture" and the "rather close linguistic relationship with the goigs."[7][8]

The goigs
In the so-called Catalan Countries, the goigs are popular compositions of poetry praising the Virgin Mary or the Saints. In Catalan, where the word has its origin, the plural and masculine form is always used even if it is about a single piece, in light of their goal to celebrate the Virgin's Seven Joys. The goigs were sung during religious ceremonies, processions, pilgrimages and the votive festivals.

A minor denomination comes from the Catalan cobla (strophe),[9] called gròbbes or cròbbes, which also comprise some other genres related to the improvised poetry in some areas around Nuoro, and especially where the conventional boundaries of the Logudorese and Campidanese dialects merge.[3][10]

The gosos in Sardinia

The gosos include religious pieces of music in the Sardinian language and all its dialects, following a rhyme scheme based on the octave, sestina and quintain.[11]

According to the scholar Giovanni Dore, the roots of the Sardinian gosos actually lie in the Byzantine models: they are in fact identical to the Greek kontakion in terms of the metre structure and the strophes with the chorus at the end.[11]:VII It is also known from the De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae that the protospatharios Torchitorio I, in honor of the Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, sent a delegation of Sardinians who sang a peculiar Greek hymn in Constantinople.[11]:VIII Some other authors think that the gosos derive from the Italian lauda, which made its way to Sardinia and the other regions of Europe thanks to Saint Francis' spiritual influence; it has also been theorised that the gosos style of singing might actually be of autochthonous origin, with sonorities typical of the ancient Mediterranean region.[12]

Starting from the 14th century, the gosos were already mentioned as a fundamental part of the novenas; while Sardinian was still retained in the 15th century, the Spanish language overall prevailed. A temporary halt is attested when the Spanish Inquisition operated, but the genre of religious drama spread on the island in the 17th century, and the gosos were an integral part of such rituals.[11]:VIII

Philip IV imposed a ban on theatrical performances in 1649; however, the tradition in Sardinia was kept alive and, from the 18th century onwards, manuscripts documenting the gosos in Sardinian became widespread and were soon handed out to all the local communities.[11]:VIII–IX[13] Some pieces written in Spanish have also been saved, such as the one in the parish of Sedilo by Jaime Zonquelo Espada, who composed the Gosos de la Virgen de la Piedad in 1734.[12]

They became the subject of censorship again in 1763, when the archbishop of Sassari Giulio Cesare Viancini forbade the gosos in favour of a sterner style (the prelate had favourable views towards Jansenism).[14][15] These popular Sardinian chants were forbidden once more in 1924, when the Concilio Plenario Sardo (Plenary Council of Sardinia) congregated at the Santa Giusta Cathedral in Oristano and put a ban on this kind of singing.[16] The following years also saw the gosos being declared illegal, in accordance with a series of policies that favoured cultural assimilation to Italian and discouraged the use of the non-Italian dialects and languages, Sardinian included.[12][lower-alpha 2]

Collections

The most ancient gosos text known is the collection of the Laudes a sa Rejna de sa Rosa.[17] Grazia Deledda has documented some gosos in a chapter of her work Tradizioni popolari di Nuoro (transl. Popular traditions of Nuoro),[18] as they were reported to her in the prolific collector Giuseppe Ferraro's work Canti popolari in dialetto logudorese.[19][20] Said collection by Ferraro has 37 gosos transcribed, some of them being reported in the single local varieties, and all of them reporting the name of whoever collected them first.[21]

In 2004, the diocese of Nuoro released a collection of gosos edited by the priests Giovanni Carta and Pietro Muggianu, with one hundred or so gosos that were scattered across the various parishes of central Sardinia.[22][23]

See also

Notes
  1. For the original use, see:
     • de San Antonio, J. (1742). Novena del glorioso principe y sagrado arcangel San Rafael, médico y medicina de los dolientes, guía y defensor de los caminantes, abogado y protector de los pretendientes, consuelo y alivio de los afligidos (in Spanish). por la viuda de Miguel de Ortega. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
     • Sánchez, T.A.; Pidal, P.J.; Janer, F. (1864). Poetas castellanos anteriores al siglo XV. Biblioteca de autores espanoles desde la formacion del lenguaje hasta nuestros dias (in Spanish). M. Rivadeneyra. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  2. For details on the 1924 Concilio Plenario Sardo, see "Lettera degli Arcivescovi e Vescovi di Sardegna al loro Clero e Popolo", 31 May 1924 in Monitore Ufficiale dell'Episcopato Sardo, pp. 47– ff.

References
  1. Hobart, M. (2017). A Companion to Sardinian History, 500–1500. Brill's Companions to European History. Brill. p. 457. ISBN 978-90-04-34124-1. Retrieved 14 June 2018. Singers from the Iberian Peninsula arriving in Iglesias in 1326 and Bonaria in at least 1346, during the first wave of ... among the most significant examples of Iberian cultural influences on Sardinia are the gosos/goggius (connected with ...
  2. Ahmedaja, A.; Haid, G. (2008). European Voices: Multipart singing in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. I. European Voices. Böhlau Verlag Wien. p. 113. ISBN 978-3-205-78090-8. Retrieved 15 June 2018. Spread all over Sardinia, the gozos are religious texts devoted to a Lady or Saint that are performed with different ...
  3. Turtas, Raimondo (2004). Gosos : poesia religiosa popolare della Sardegna centro-settentrionale (in Italian). Cagliari: Della Torre. ISBN 978-88-7343-384-2. OCLC 56594109.
  4. Mele, Giampaolo (2004). "Il canto dei Gosos tra penisola iberica e Sardegna, Medio Evo, epoca moderna". In Caria, Roberto (ed.). I gosos: fattore unificante nelle tradizioni culturali e cultuali della Sardegna (in Italian). Ed. Provincia di Oristano. pp. 11–34.
  5. Solinas, G. (1997). Comenti nascit e crescit sa poesia de Sardigna: elementus de cumposizioni poetica in lingua sarda (in Italian). Castello. p. 119. Retrieved 15 June 2018. Infatti la etimohogia fa derivare la voce più da "gozo" (godimento in spagnolo) che da "gaudium", parola latina. Essi sono presenti in Sardegna già dal Quattrocento come si è già visto nelle "Laudes" di Borutta, nelle composizioni ...
  6. Quaquero, M. (2005). Musiche e musicisti in Sardegna. Musiche e musicisti in Sardegna (in Italian). C. Delfino. p. 141. ISBN 978-88-7138-350-7. Retrieved 15 June 2018. Sergio Bullegas nella sua Storia del teatro in Sardegna, tali forme (chiamate Goigs in lingua catalana, Gosos e Gozos al ...
  7. Bullegas, Sergio (1976). Il teatro in Sardegna fra Cinque e Seicento – Da Sigismondo Arquer ad Antioco del Arca (in Italian). Edes.
  8. Bernardi, C. (1991). La drammaturgia della settimana santa in Italia. Cittá e lo spettacolo (in Italian). Vita e Pensiero. p. 495. ISBN 978-88-343-2902-3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  9. Wagner, M.L. (1960). Dizionario Etimologico Sardo. Sammlung romanischer Elementar- und Handbuecher (in Italian). Winter. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  10. Sedda, P.G. (1987). Crobbes: poesie del 700 dalla tradizione orale. L'altra parola (in Italian). Iniziative Culturali. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  11. Dore, Giovanni (1983). Gosos e ternuras: testi e musiche religiose popolari sarde secondo l'antica e ininterrotta tradizione di pregare cantando (in Italian). Istituto superiore regionale etnografico. Retrieved 14 June 2018. Available online
  12. Spada, Antonio Francesco (2005). "I gosos di San Costantino". Diritto @ Storia (in Italian). Archived from the original on 16 February 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  13. Ferrer, E.B. (1984). Storia linguistica della Sardegna. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie (in Italian). De Gruyter. p. 162. ISBN 978-3-11-132911-6. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  14. Bessone, A.S. (1976). Il giansenismo nel Biellese. Centro Studi Biellese: Pubblicazione (in Italian). Centro studi biellesi. p. 132. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  15. Mattone, A. (2010). Storia dell'Università di Sassari. Storia dell'Università di Sassari (in Italian). Ilisso. p. 71. ISBN 978-88-6202-071-8. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  16. Pinna, Antonio (July 2010). "Attualità e vitalità dei "gosos".I "gosos" e la paraliturgia: incrocio fra tradizione popolare e tradizione colta. Due casi di studio". INSULA: Quaderno di cultura sarda (8): 101–22. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  17. Filia, D. (1935). Il laudario lirico quattrocentista e la vita religiosa dei Disciplinati bianchi di Sassari: con Officio e Statuti italiani inediti (in Italian). Gallizzi. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  18. Deledda, G. (1894). Tradizioni popolari di Nuoro in Sardegna. Biblioteca Nazionale delle Tradizioni Popolari Italiane (in Italian). Forzani e C. tipografi del Senato. Retrieved 15 June 2018. Available online and Archived 6 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  19. Ferraro, G. (1891). Canti popolari in dialetto logudorese. Canti e racconti del popolo italiano (in Italian). E. Loescher. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  20. Ferraro, G.; Comparetti, D. (1891). Canti e racconti del popolo italiano. 9 : Canti popolari in dialetto logudorese : 1 (in Italian). Loescher. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  21. Atzori, M.; Paulis, G. (2005). Antologia delle tradizioni popolari in Sardegna. Antologia delle tradizioni popolari in Sardegna (in Italian). C. Delfino. p. 1141. ISBN 978-88-7138-388-0. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  22. Carta, Giovanni; Muggianu, Pietro (2004). Novenas e Gosos della Diocesi di Nuoro (in Italian). Ed. L'Ortobene.
  23. "I Gosos". iSardinia.com (in Italian). 24 January 2016. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.

Further reading
  • Boullier, A. (1865). L'ile de Sardaigne par Auguste Boullier: L'ile de Sardaigne dialecte et chants populaires (in French). Paris: E. Dentu. (translated into Italian by Raffa Garzia as Boullier, A.; Garzia, R. (1916). I canti popolari della Sardegna: traduzione italiana con note (in Italian). Stabilimenti poligrafici riuniti.)
  • Dore, Giovanni (1983). Gosos e ternuras : testi e musiche religiose popolari sarde secondo l'antica e ininterrotta tradizione di pregare cantando, Istituto superiore regionale etnografico, Nuoro.
  • (Ed. by Sara Chirra and Maria Grazia Farris, 2002). Laudes immortales : gosos e devozione mariana in Sardegna, Grafica del Parteolla, Dolianova.
  • Licheri, Bonaventura (edited by Mario Cubeddu, 2016). Gaudia : gosos e lodi sacre, Ilisso, Nuoro.
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