Italy holds a central place in the history of singing partly because of the nature of the Italian language.
Italian when spoken is already distinguished by its musical characteristics. It is fluid and mellifluous to listen to and uses a wide range of pitches to heighten the expression of meaning.
More importantly, Italian vowels and consonants are extremely user-friendly to singers. There are comparatively few vowel sounds, and hardly any complex diphthongs. Italian vowels are thus characterised by their purity. The predominance of open vowels (the equivalent in English of the first vowel in ΓÇ£fatherΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£motherΓÇ¥, for example) is particularly useful to composers and performers. The mouth is well open from back to front, allowing maximum resonance and projection.
