“‘An accompaniment of indescribable romance to those poetical scenes’: Edward Lear’s Excursions in the Abruzzi Soundscape”

The article focuses on the first volume of Edward Lear’s Illustrated Excursions in Italy (1846), which describes his travels in central Italy, specifically in the three provinces of Abruzzi, in 1843–1844, and inaugurates a series of travelogues based on his journals. Lear’s work is unique in its conflation of different media formats – written text, lithographs and musical scores – used to revisit his journey and evoke a lifelike “sense of place.” In particular, the contribution aims to highlight the central role that the musical dimension plays in this process and Lear’s priceless documentary work as one of the first recorders of the musical heritage of Abruzzi. After an overview of the most original features of the Illustrated Excursions, the very components that conjure up the Abruzzi “soundscape” are examined: the book’s Appendix with the musical scores of four folk compositions, the depiction of Abruzzi pifferari and the very “sounds” of Italian infused in the text.