In response to a nationwide lockdown to help control the country’s coronavirus outbreak, neighbors across cities throughout Italy stepped out onto their apartment balconies to sing in solidarity.
Footage was filmed from a neighborhood in Siena, Tuscany, on March 12, 2020. It quickly went viral, inspiring millions to hold on to hope in the face of the global pandemic crisis.
The moving video was posted online by Twitter user @valemercurii beside the caption, “People of my hometown #Siena sing a popular song from their houses along an empty street to warm their hearts during the Italian Covid-19 lockdown,” as per The Independent.
To date, the original tweet has 5.3 million views and counting.
The Siena residents, both men and women, sang a folk song titled “E mentre Siena dorme” (And While Siena Sleeps) in an effort to show strength and community in the face of adversity. The song is also known by another name, “Canto della Verbena” (Song of the Verbena), and refers to a beloved regional flowering herb used in teas, traditional medicines, and perfumes.
The Twitter user filmed the neighborly serenade through their open window, capturing the sound of voices mingling in the darkness of the empty street at night. Some singers even harmonized together in their rendition of the popular tune.
Comments flooded in from viewers around the world, touched by the Italian neighbors’ efforts to lift each other’s spirits. After the footage was shared by The Guardian online, one viewer commented, “This virus has brought out both the worst and best of humanity. This is one of the best.”
“The brave Italian people showing the world that even in darkness they can shine as bright as the stars at night,” wrote another.
On the same day as the footage from Siena went viral, an Italian woman named Susy Unica Silvestri posted a similar video of her neighbors joining in song on social media, this time filmed from her apartment in Naples. As per CNN, Silvestri explained that she and her neighbors were “worried, but optimistic.”
“The Neapolitan people love each other even with a choir from the balconies,” she continued, adding, “Tonight [March 13] we will all do it again and we will thank the volunteer nurses and doctors who are helping us.”
The people of Naples, Silvestri maintained, are optimistic by nature. “There is trust and optimism in the air,” she said, “it could not be otherwise, we are Neapolitan.”
Italy has been the worst-affected European country since the coronavirus outbreak began. As per the New York Post, Italy was instructed to go into lockdown on March 9 by the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, after a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases; the lockdown is part of a nationwide effort to contain the spread.
As per NBC News, as of March 17, 2020, Italy has recorded more than 1,800 coronavirus-related deaths. The country’s officials have anticipated that there will be 90,000 confirmed infections by the end of April 2020.
For Italy, however, music is not the only outlet for enduring the lockdown.
On the afternoon of March 14, the doctors at work fighting the spread of the virus were honored for their efforts with a nationwide round of applause. “It was from our hearts,” 73-year-old grandmother and Rome resident Emma Santachiara told The New York Times, “to say thanks and show that we can get past this.”
