Exploring Bellanöva’s musical dialogue: How oral tradition musicians can interact with musical writing and arrangements

The musical heritage of the Quattro Province (Four Provinces) in the Italian Apennine is a live musical tradition. A few pairs of piffero (a popular double-reed oboe) and accordion players still animate, with wide audience participation, festivities, dances, weddings. The well-known duo composed of Stefano Valla (piffero) and Daniele Scurati (accordion) are bearers of an ancient tradition, which they keep alive not only through a memory preservation work, but also through respectful innovation and creation within the repertoire. The collaboration of the duo with Marcello Fera, composer, violinist and conductor, and Nicola Segatta, cellist comes from this desire of experimenting. The project Bellanöva proposes a dialogue of the four instruments, balancing orality with musical writing. The purpose of this article is to investigate how four musicians from different backgrounds can interact collaboratively, adapting to each other’s needs, reconciling their respective and different embodiment of musical skills.