«L’antica cetra» en Corse: renaissance d’un instrument oublié

Abstract

In Corsica, a number of textual sources from the 17th century to the early 20th century attest to the presence and use of a stringed instrument called cetera. In this article, after examining this body of evidence, we look back at how the cetera was abandoned and then forgotten. We describe the use of the instrument in Corsican society through the eyes of erudite travelers an its presence in popular poetry preserved by oral memory. We then attempt to analyse the factors that led to its abandonment, as well as the reasons that
led some rare individuals to keep an instrument that once belonged to their family. Finally, in the light of the cultural and political movement known as riacquistu that swept Corsica from the late 1960s onwards, we examine how this emblematic instrument was rediscovered and studied, how young luthiers were trained to make it, how musicians reinvented its use and, finally, how it is once again part of the island’s musical life today