9. The chiaramedda, the surdulina and the zampogna
Visitors to Italy might encounter the chiaramedda, the surdulina and the zampogna. What are they?
A) Bagpipes ü B) Dances C) Facial expressions D) Goats
Most of us are familiar with the great highland pipes of Scotland, and perhaps the Irish “uillean” pipes or one or two others, but bagpipes are one of the most ancient, widespread and varied of all instrument families. From the Turkish tulum to the German dudelsack the distinctive sound of piping has been heard across the Old World since long before the Roman emperor Nero amused himself playing his utriculus. The principal family of Italian bagpipes is the zampogna, whose range includes the gran zampogna (the “large zampogna”, of which some specimens are indeed enormous) and the zampogna di scapoli.
