People singing from balconies during coronavirus lockdown are part of a long tradition of using
music to fight fear, stretching back through the Black Death to the 7th century BC
Disease is on the prowl. As residents hide behind locked doors, barely a footstep is heard on Milan’s cobbled streets. A strict quarantine is in effect, and all commerce, trade and public life have vanished. The area around Il Duomo, the city’s ornate cathedral, stands empty.
Fearing contagion, all religious gatherings have been banned. But when it comes to their faith – and, importantly, their music – nothing can stand in the people’s way. Following a call to “go to church in spirit”, they launch a collective act of social and musical defiance. Windows are opened, doors unlocked and balconies perched on as thousands of men, women and children start to sing.