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Il Bruscello
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For the festivities of the Assunta at Montepulciano the "Bruscello" takes place on the steps of the cathedral.
Two or three performances are held on or about the "Ferragosto" (15th August) holiday.
It is presented by amateurs and its traditional roots spread throughout Valdichiana and Valdorcia.
The "Bruscello" started as a peasant theatre performance by farm workers in their farmyards; later moving to village squares for fairs and patron saints days.
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Brusco is principally Butcher's Broom (Ruscus Aculeatus) but generally refers to any shrub; the diminutives bruscolo or bruscello similar to the French "brousailles", suggest blackthorn or similar bushes. The etymology of Bruscello is from the Latin arbor (tree), to arboscello then Bruscello.
The Bruscello was a symbol of an ancient countryside ritual celebrating the trees' reawakening in spring accompanied by traditional songs.
The ritual significance has long disappeared, but the custom of the group singing and the symbol of unison , the bruscello live on.
The Bruscello became the title of the gatherings of farm workers for representations of their own stories or traditional and epic tales; La Vecchia (the old woman), i Contrasti (the contrasts), Le Zingaresche (the gipsy tales) for example) The performances contain religious episodes, one of gallantry or local legends. They are mainly recited in hendecasyllabic (Il syllable) verse of 8 lined stanzas accompanied by accordion or violin.
This tradition of peasant culture had become almost completely lost, when in 1939, after a long pause, a new libretto was composed with more varied musical themes than the traditional folk tunes.
A company was formed to organise the "Bruscello", to stage operettas and also to perform another ancient ritualistic grotesque type of folk theatre "Segala Vecchia" (literally saw up the old woman) a masquerade with an all male cast.
Over the course of the years many stories have been told in verse, Pia dei Tolomei, Margherita da Cortona, Ghino di Pacco, Giulietta e Romeo, Il Poliziano; interweaving tales of love battle and legend.
So on the Cathedral steps we hear alternately, the storyteller, the historian, warriors or commoners, each singing in a style appropriate to the character interpreted, creating a type of sung theatre stemming from Siennese folk songs.
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