Maltese Learning Community and Resources

Music is an integral part of any country's cultural heritage and has been an important part of Maltese life for centuries. Would you ever have suspected such a small island, with such a minor language, has its own very active music scene?

Some history 

Music has been an important element since ancient times. In fact since the Neolithic period, which was around 5,000 BC. According to research, Maltese people would use primitive instruments such as drums, flutes, and lyres to perform various music styles and melodies. The music of the time was heavily influenced by other Mediterranean cultures, such as the Phoenicians and the Greeks. As often happens with most art and music of the period, it was connected to religious ceremonies, rituals, and festivals.  

During the Baroque period, opera emerged in Malta, sometimes interspersed with elements of Maltese traditional music, but more often than not, a calque of foreign music. 

In the 19th century, always following trends, a short-lived style called the ‘tarantella’ was introduced, which was strongly influenced by the Italian tarantella, and it soon became popular with the masses. Alas, it didn’t survive as a genre but elements of it have influenced other forms of traditional Maltese music. 

Source: Archival AV

Għana 

Locally, the best-known type of folk music is għana (the ‘għ’ is silent as we had mentioned in our short guide to pronouncing and speaking Maltese), a type of folk music often sung by two or more għannejja and often accompanied by two or more guitarists.  

It can be ‘tal-fatt’, recounting a particular event in Malta’s history. This was particularly important at a time when many people were illiterate and unable to read the news and know what was going on in different parts of the island.  

It can also be ‘spirtu pront’, where two or more għannejja throw shade at each other, showing superior knowledge about a fact, or simply poking fun at each other’s style. Imagine a folk rap battle, with acoustic guitars set to vaguely Arabic chords, which are neither Eastern, nor Western as such. 

Source: Archival AV

If you’re unprepared for it, the voices can also surprise you. They’re often high-pitched and very particular in cadence.  

Since għana has been around before the Knights and was very popular, a succession of ecclesiastical and colonial authorities had tried desperately to stamp it out. According to authorities at the time, għana was secretly used to pass on subversive and anti-authoritarian messages, something which obviously didn’t sit well with the concerned authorities themselves.  

It has recently been placed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Although attempts have been made to sanitise it, the place you can see it most frequently are usually no-frills boċċi clubs, band clubs or other such traditional bars. Far from being sanitised, għana retains its rough-and-tumble spirit. May it forever live that way! 

Tip: To discover when għannejja will be on next have a peek in any boċċi club and ask if they’ll have għannejja on at some point. In addition, in the first weeks of June a festival called Għanafest (now called 'Ritmu') takes place at Argotti Gardens in Floriana.