I Muvrini and Corsica
A mountain in the sea, mysterious, wild and pure. Little villages, high up the hillsides. In the distance the snow-capped mountains under a brilliant blue sky. The hinterland is the land of the shepherds and the traditions. The shepherds guide their flock to the higher pastures in summer and stay there till the end of september.
The Corsican people love to sing. Fathers sing with their sons and thus pass on the traditional Paghella's and Polyphony. Women sing the "lamenti" for the deceased and the "nanne" for their little children. Men also sing the "lamenti" for an unanswered love, the departure of a loved-one, exile, or when a 'bandit d'honneur' takes to the maquis etc.
The last decennia the women also lend their voices to the polyphony that was long reserved for the men.

It is amazing that I Muvrini can evoke so much emotion in the hearts of non-Corsicans. The soft sounds of the Corsican language are made for singing, the words themselves already a melody.
Jean-François's lyrics have a tenderness, respect and delicacy, a moving sadness, nostalgia and hope, heightened by the music and their exceptional voices.
Their fabulous talent, their energy, the love that surrounds them, give them the dimension, this charisma, which makes that one cannot but share their convictions and hope that they wil continue to defend, well and without compromises, their past and their future.

I Muvrini, the voices, the words....

One voice rises above the music, it dominates the space, intensifies the colours of a windy sky, it amplifies, develops an etherical sphere and one hears this perfect modulation that softens the last phrase. This voice leaves an echo of a shivering in the soul of the listener.
Then another voice rises from the earth. It is deep, generous, full of compassion, of a tangible sadness. By the emotion that vibrates in this voice, tears well up in the eyes of the listener.
Finally these two voices join together, answering, unifying the sky and the earth, the hope and the pain.
These voices, these words resound in one's head and one cannot forget the hope they give.

I Muvrini, les voix, les mots....

Une voix s'élève au dessus de la musique, elle domine l'espace, elle a l'intensité la couleur et la pureté d'un ciel de mistral, elle s'amplifie, se déploie en volutes aériennes et on attend avec espoir cette modulation parfaite qui s'adoucit en finissant la phrase. Cette présence saisissante, cette voix libérée exaltant les mots qu'elle prononce, font naître en écho un frisson dans l'âme de celui qui l'écoute.

Puis avant que l'on ait pu recommencer à respirer, voilà que monte de la terre une autre voix. Elle envahit et ravage le coeur, elle est âpre, profonde, généreuse, remplie de compassion, d'une tristesse palpable. Par l'émotion qui vibre dans cette voix, par les mots qu'elle prononce, les larmes viennent aux yeux de celui qui écoute.

Enfin ces deux voix se rejoignent, se mêlent, se répondent, unissant le ciel et la terre, l'espérance et la douleur. Elles sont au dessus du temps immuables, et font plonger dans l'infini celui qui écoute. Après les avoir écoutées intensément, émerveillé, le coeur serré, longtemps après, ces voix résonnent encore dans la tête, et on n'oublie pas les mots qu'elles prononcent, les souvenirs qu'elles évoquent, les espoirs qu'elles donnent.

Un grand Merci to Jean-François, Alain and to all the members of the I Muvrini-group for giving us so much joy and happiness!

I hope you will enjoy these pages about I Muvrini and Corsica.
I Muvrini who honour their beloved 'Terra Corsa' by singing the traditional Paghjella and the Polyphony, sacred and profane, as well as their own songs.

 

With special thanks to Violette Martini

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