Maltes Folk Music- L-Ghana Maltija

OVERVIEW - BRIEF HISTORY
Maltese għana singing has been with the Maltese nation for centuries, and has always been regarded as the music of the peasant, the farmer, the labourer, the washer-woman and has generally been associated with the working classes.

The Maltese have a natural in-built ability to sing and rhyme. And this was documented by a number of visitors to the islands who were impressed by this phenomenon. We will look at some of their impressions as outsiders as well as others from Maltese academics which are views from within.

FOREIGN OBSERVERS OF GĦANA
Għana has attracted attention of foreign writers and scholars, who wrote about and observed the beauty of the song, and the ability of the Maltese to sing and rhyme through the centuries.

G. CASSAR-PULLlCINO who is the ultimate student of Maltese folklore this century, claims that "The first study of għana on record, goes back to 1792, during the last years of the knights."

A French knight, called St. Priest published a book called "MALTE PAR UNE VOYAGEUR FRANCAIS", which included three għanjiet, as told to him by a Maltese librarian, Gioacchino Navarro. I'll read them to you in Maltese first and then give you a rough translation.

Around the turn of the century HANS STUMME and BERTA ILG gathered about 400 għana quatrains and published them. GEORGE PERCY BADGER, who visited the Islands in the beginning of British rule, around 1838, published a work called "A DESCRIPTION OF MALTA AND GOZO".

In those times għana was sung by villagers and workmen, and indeed by women going about their household chores. It was not sophisticated and organised as it is today, where għana Spirtu Pront dominates and has its own famous għannejja and kitarristi.

So this is the għana that was heard by these non-Maltese students of the topic as they wandered the countryside.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION
I remember living in the small fishing village of Kalkara, which is a Grand Harbour inlet, and hearing women sing għana as they hung the washing. Or the fishermen as they brought in their catch on their boats at sunset.

I remember street sellers using għana to sell their products, and singing għana quatrains praising their goods and claiming how much better their produce was, over the other sellers. Those able to do this always seemed to get the edge and attract more attention than the straight sellers.

GĦANA IN THE 2OTH CENTURY
Għana in the 20th century has progressed from music sung by peasants to a more organised and professional form of entertainment. The top għannejja in Malta are celebrities in their own right. They sing regularly on the air-waves. They appear on għana television programmes. They also visit countries like CANADA, ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA and wherever else għana has a following.

Later on in this talk we will be seeing some examples of this, but the point I make here is this. While għana as we know it today, belongs mainly to the SPIRTU PRONT genre, which has progressed in leaps and bounds this century, and is more refined in its structure as well as rhyme, there is a great difference between what Stumme, Ilg, Priest, Badger etc. witnessed and għana as we know it today.

STIGMA
Għana carries a STIGMA which has impeded its progress in the last 50 years or so, and which threatens to eventually render it extinct, if the root of it is not examined.

So what is the STIGMA attached to this music? Is it a question of a peasant mentality struggling in the sophistication of the 20th century? Is it political? Is it religious?

THE MIDDLE EASTERN CONNECTION
One of the articles which was sent to me by the University of Malta, contained this interesting point of view by għana scholar PAUL SANT CASSIA in his article "BEJN IL-FOLKLOR U L-ĦABI". . . ". Between folklore and the hidden" sheds a new light, and perhaps helps us understand better the root of this STIGMA and general prejudice that għana suffers. This is not a direct translation but my own interpretation of his statements. Għana, because of its ancient nature, carries with it the remnant sounds of a forgotten past, which takes us back to a more barbaric time from which we have progressed through our history, as we have become more sophisticated and civilised, and which we would rather forget and disassociate ourselves from.

Although as a nation, we identify more with Europe nowadays, both by culture and religion, għana still carries the echo of an oriental or Arabic, Muslim past. That is not to say that we have ever lost our resolve to hold firm to our Christianity, but even the slightest resemblance to a Muslim or Arabic; Oriental cultural influence, is not only a threat but not representative of how we see ourselves in the world in the late 20th century.

Perhaps we have a time in our history which we would rather forget, and wipe out any reminders of a time which threatened us both as a race and a nation and more importantly as a CHRISTIAN nation. This is not to say that għana is an Arabic musical art-form which we inherited, but the sounds suggest a link to an Arabic, middle-Eastern culture.

After the colonization of the Islands by the British, the Maltese perception of themselves changed to becoming Anglo-European where it was decided to throw away the "Old" and go with the "New". Ironically in spite of the Semitic quality of the Maltese language, it survived all perils and prejudice and għana which after all is sung in the Maltese language has been cast aside almost underground in the higher strata of Maltese society.

The general reason for għana's demise this century is due to some indiscretions by some għannejja who have left a indelible stain on it. This cannot be denied and even the għannejja themselves concede these unfortunate misadventures. (Although I have always found the great majority of għannejja very prudent.) But to accept that għannejja's indiscretions as the only singular reason, for għana's unfortunate stigma is a grave misconception.

At times in this modern age, it is easy to assume that there is no room for għana in the modern scheme of things, and it should be left to die a natural death but art is more resilient than that, and in spite of the stigma that għana carries to date, it has survived and lives on.

MODERN GĦANA
In the last decade something has happened to għana which in my opinion will see it survive forever.

Għannejja such as FRANS BALDACCHINO, "II-Budaj" have introduced theatre in the presentation of għana. "Budaj" has opened new horizons with his brand of għana, and the people cannot get enough of it. He has taken it overseas and has even managed to record his first għana CD. He has his own team of Karmenu Bonnici "II-Baħri" (għannej) and guitarists John Saliba (prim) and Manwel Parnis, who performed with him in Paris and are included in his CD. Frans is a very charismatic man, of great presence but ironically is a man of great simplicity, in spite of his tremendous intelligence. I suspect this is where għana's future lies. And as it gathers momentum in this field, we shall see the other genres revitalised and women għannejja coming back to the fold after a great absence.

It is my belief that as it gathers greater dignity and acceptance in society, it will bring in more young għannejja and kitarristi into the fold.

Whatever happens, we must keep in mind that ghana is the true music of Malta, and should be treasured as an integral part of our cultural heritage. And we should appreciate the "Positives" as well as judge it by the "Negatives".

Modern musicians have also taken għana melodies and arranged them in various fields and more importantly, recorded and published them. I emphasise the recording side, because once music is recorded, it becomes frozen in time, and kept for others who will follow, to appreciate, particularly the young. Cassettes, discs and CDs finish up in libraries and in people's record collections.

Maestro CHARLES CAMILLERI has shown us what could be done in the classical field with għana melodies, in his album . . . "Għanjiet minn Malta" and other fine works.

Here in Australia, various musicians have written għana arrangements. - I have heard fine pieces by Evarist Azzopardi, Laurie Bugeja and others.

Vince Pulo has expressed his own feelings of għana, in his recorded works on record and on various television productions.

In my cassette "NEON" I played għana melodies exclusively, and although I produced nearly an hour of music I had to leave some out, such is the wealth of għana melodies and themes.

The big question now is whether GĦANA will make the transition into the 21th century. Being an optimist I believe it will in some form or another, but if you lose it and the skill is not passed on to the young, our loss will be tragic.