There was a time when 'going' to the bandmaster meant a chance without distinction of social class, of origin: it was sociability, it was life.

It meant taking care of our history, showing the world who we are.

It is for this and much more that I am working on this law to support the Bande da Giro and the extraordinary work of the bandmasters that Maestro Pellegrini has wonderfully defined with the expression 'Nomads of the Stave'.

Through the work of the Bands and the Festival Committees, the villages become real stages, the so-called peripheries of geography are dressed up for the festival and every citizen and every town becomes a spectator and at the same time the first actor in the great spectacle of tradition.

The bond with the Bande is anthropological, visceral. This has been confirmed to us by the many Apulians we have met in the participatory process of constructing this law: ordinary citizens and concertmasters, local administrators, cultural animators of tradition, young people, men and women who, with their stories, have restored to us the collective value of this immense intangible cultural heritage of our territories.

We started from a Protocol signed in 2019 by several mayors, concertmasters and band festival organisers. We readjusted each report, broadened our listening and travelled around Puglia gathering suggestions, suggestions, needs. We held several hearings in the VI Culture Commission of the Regional Council, comparing expert opinions, political vision and instances that emerged from the territories.

From a long and stimulating, patient and highly satisfying work, the proposals in the form of articles of law came to life, in which we find economic investments to support the work and professional living conditions of Bandmasters, cultural valorisation tools, heritage digitisation activities, initiatives to disseminate knowledge and network experiences, up to the creation of a travelling museum.

This proposal is in line with, by amending and enriching it, Regional Framework Law 17 of 2013 on the Protection and Enhancement of Apulia's Cultural Heritage.

[from the Explanatory Memorandum to the Draft Law of the Apulia Region "Enhancement, promotion and support of Apulian Band Culture - Amendment to Regional Law no. 17 of 25/06/2013"]

On 15 June 2023, the Apulia Region Council unanimously approved the bill for the valorisation, promotion and support of Apulian Band Culture, with related amendment to Regional Framework Law no. 7 of 2013 on the protection and valorisation of Apulia's cultural heritage.

The bill provides for contributions for the activities of music bands, for the cataloguing and digitisation of scores and documents related to historical music production, and for the creation of a 'widespread and integrated museum'.

The 'Bande da giro' become 'Bande della tradizione pugliese' (Bands of the Apulian tradition), including all the 117 musical groups present in the Apulian regional territory. The Band's musical repertoire also includes transcriptions of opera anthologies, symphonies, symphonic marches and religious music, performed in itinerant form especially during patronal festivals and processions linked to the rites of Holy Week.

Pursuant to Regional Law 10/2023, the Region safeguards, enhances, promotes and supports the Apulian band culture typically developed through the 'traditional Apulian bands', as an expression of the region's intangible cultural heritage, recognising their social, cultural, identity, democratic art and territorial enhancement function.

A monographic look at music bands in Apulia, prompted by the vast popularity, throughout the region, of band ensembles. Bianca Tragni, a local scholar, reconstructs their historical events: the formation of the first band groups dates back to the early 19th century, with prodromes as far back as the 18th century; referred to as 'musicians for funeral services', their presence is noted in Orsara di Puglia, in the province of Foggia, in Acquaviva delle Fonti in the province of Bari, and then became increasingly popular in many towns in the region. Their 'popular' nature is characteristic, due to the social extraction of their members, mostly artisans, shopkeepers, barbers, and more rarely peasants. The ensembles could count on the support of the municipal authorities (as in the case of the Decurions of Gioia Del Colle) and sometimes even of 'bosses' who shared the same musical passions. The images flow by presenting models of musicians' uniforms, when the public authorities, civil and military, in the period of French domination defined the legal configuration of the bands, establishing the number of members and uniforms (underlining the military origin of the army). The popular band, which loses its military traits, was born instead to accompany funerals and then to celebrate the patron saint, the country's main festive occasion. The audience, belonging to the same social nucleus as the musician, was made expert by repeated listening, and thus able to detect all the nuances of the performance. The numerous interviews that make up the report, with musicians and patrons, reveal a profound knowledge and appreciation of the world of opera, as do the images of performances packed with spectators. Francesco Lentini, a well-established conductor, talks about the recurring strategies implemented, in confrontation with the expectations and tastes of the public: the band reinterprets cultured music, right from the composition of the personnel, according to popular taste, hence the 'overwhelming endings, the fabulous crescendos and the divism of the soloists'. In an attempt to understand the particular roots of the band genre in Apulia, in Tragni's reply, the reasons are traced back to the sensitivity of the public, also due to the appreciated patriotic connotations, and of the performers, as well as to the skill of the conductors, who acted as mediators between the 'noble', operatic music of the 19th century and popular performances. Maestro Giovanni Misasi, for a long time director of one of the most prestigious bands, that of Acquaviva delle Fonti, which was created to facilitate the meetings of the Carbonari of the town and neighbouring towns banned by the Bourbon state, explains that the bands were made up of local craftsmen and 'forestieri', i.e. professional musicians. Images of moments of study in training schools for band instrumentalists, such as in Terlizzi with maestro Ghisonda, flow, leading to talk of the human and working experience of the band director and the musicians, of the constant travels and community life. An interviewee from Acquaviva delle Fonti, an expert on the subject, tells of the rivalry between bands, in particular between that of his town and Gioia del Colle, and of the intense activity of band agents and, in general, of the induced activity generated by the great patronal celebrations. While observing the streets of Bari being traversed by the march of the musicians on the feast of St Nicholas for the blessing of bread, the speaker calls for the protection of an illustrious tradition, such as that of band music, and of the cultural heritage transmitted, which is of a purely popular origin. Tragni, in conclusion, talks about her book 'I nomadi del pentagramma' (The Nomads of the Stave), recognising three types of bands: the tour band, the large band of 19th century tradition; the internal service band, smaller in number, for funerals and minor celebrations; and the low band, mostly family, 'that makes noise and merriment' on minor festive occasions. The direction is by Agostino Di Ciaula, the photography by Gianfranco Sfondrini.

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Musical Bands in Puglia: Musical Bands In Puglia - Archivio Sonoro