Folk music - Preserving our traditions say Dr Mifsud Chircop

Ghana or Maltese folk music is a type of song with a slow rhythm. Ghana can be both formal or informal in nature. Historian Gorg Mifsud Chircop gives three meanings to the term ghana; the ghanjiet or songs sung, the music played and the execution or performance thereof. Ghannejja are Malta’s bards. They keep the Maltese language alive singing in a highly expressive, free flowing style.

Dr Gorg Mifsud Chircop says that ghana can be divided into several sub-genres. Ghana tal-banju – bathhouse songs, is know thus as many people would sing these songs during work, for example while washing clothes in the bath, and therefore these songs were spread among the people orally. Today ghana tal-banju refers to traditional ghana which is known by heart.

L-ghana spirtu pront is ghana which is improvised during the ghana session. It requires great skill and attention. Karmnu Debono a.k.a. il-Pikipak mentions that when singing in this style the intention is that your verses open up four windows for yourself but close all the windows for the other ghannej. Spirtu Pront can be seen as a debate between two or more ghannejja on a topic, which could have been either predetermined or decided upon during the beginning of the session. An ghannej must demonstrate his knowledge not only of a wide range of social topics but also his command of the Maltese language. Singers must follow a rigid syllabic structure of 8, 7, 8, 7. The language used is full of proverbs and overtly self-righteous.

Ghana spirtu pronto is furthermore divided into other sub-genres such as bla qalba which means that one ghannej would sing the whole song. Dr Mifsud Chircop says that older ghannejja mention that this type of ghana is not very old and goes against the very roots of ghana spirtu pront. Ghana maqsuma (divided) is ghana where only two ghannejja participate. Moreover there is ghana tal-kelma, which is based around a series of words which have to be included in the song. On Karmnu Debono’s suggestion this type of ghana started to be performed at the National Ghana Festival and in 2000 Cikku Degiorgio and Kalcidon Vella a.k.a. id-Danny sang in this style for the first time overseas. Ghana bid-denb, with a tail, as the name implies, is ghana between two ghannejja. Each ghannej starts his part by repeating the last verse of the previous ghannej.

Another style of ghana is tal-fatt. Ghana tal-fatt is prepared beforehand and is about facts which have truly happened, whether they be historic or current. These ghanjiet can be about a variety of subjects and are often published. Finally there is ghana la Bormliza. Dr Mifsud Chircop made it his personal mission to make this type of ghana, also known as ghana fl-gholi (in a high pitch), more well known. In Bormliza singing male singers must reach very high pitches without letting their voices break into falsetto. This type of ghana is generally sung in an intimate setting.

Dr Mifsud Chircop added that ghana sometimes can be humorous in nature and this is known as Makjetta. On the other side of the spectrum there is ghana sung in churches, which is more spiritual. Another type of ghana is id-Dwett, duet. This ghana is written and sung by two people.

The accompaniment to ghana is provided by three guitars usually strumming Western influenced tonic to dominant chordal progressions. This gives ghana a very unusual sound, not quite Eastern, but not quite Western. In between sung verses, the next ghannej is given time to prepare a reply to his opponents’ remarks while the prim (first) guitar improvises melodies based on traditional ghana melodies.

Noel Sammut is one of the present organisers of the vernacularly known Ghana Festival, which is not competitive in nature. He says that the First National Ghana Folk Singing Festival was held in May 1998 at the Argotti Gardens in Floriana. The festival was an immediate success with the participation of over 60 amateur and leading exponents. The second edition in 1999 saw an even larger number of participants and included seven children.

An important strategy which has been adopted and has in fact become characteristic of every subsequent folk festival, is the participation of Mediterranean folk singing groups mostly from Mediterranean countries, including Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Libya, Germany and Tuscany (Italy). Indeed, the 2007 edition was called Festival Folkloristiku Mediterranju.

The 2007 festival was held in two different localities. The first day was at Gharghur while the other two days were at the Argotti Gardens, where a hobbies and handcrafts exhibition was also set up. In this way this festival attracted more people. It is estimated that about 2,000 people visit the three-day festival. The festival has been covered several times by foreign journalists and several Maltese emigrants purposely coincide their visits with the festival. The 2007 edition was dedicated to Frans Baldacchino Il-Budaj who contributed so much of his time to the development and promotion of Maltese folk music.

Quoting Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech’s 2007 speech, Noel Sammut says that folk music, or ghana, forms part of folklore and tradition which gives us our identity and unites us with other Mediterranean countries which along the years developed this art of music and singing.

Cikku Degiorgio a.k.a. Tal-Fjuri from Qormi is a renowned ghannej in the Spirtu Pront, Bormliza and Poezija styles. Degiorgio believes that ghana is not something one can learn. In the same way a person is born a concert pianist or a painter, a person can be born an ghannej. It is important to nurture such a talent, honing it to suit it owner better.

Cikku Degiorgio says that today, thanks to studies about the subject Ghana and Ghannejja are highly respected. He remembers how as a young boy, ghannejja would come to Qormi during the weekend and the policemen would arrest them. After the war, ghana became more socially accepted due, in part, to the interest of the academia. Mr Degiorgio mentions how presently ghana is even sung in church. He himself has sung in churches in Mgarr, Qrendi, Gzira and Ghaxaq. Church ghana is generally connected to the feast being celebrated.

Cikku Degiorgio’s poezija ghana is often inspired by social events. He has sung about the 1995 Um el Faroud Dockyard tragedy and also sung, and subsequently published, 80 ghanjiet about Manwel Dimech, Paul Boffa and Dom Mintoff. He has also performed overseas. One of the highlights of Cikku Degiorgio’s career was in 1973 when a minister approached him, and a group of other ghannejja, to sing at the Manoel Theatre. Cikku Degiorgio recalls this as one of the few occasions on which he suffered from stage fright due to the amount of people present at the Theatre.

Cikku Degiorgio has been invited to speak about ghana several times; school children, in particular, find his ability to conjure up a few verses at will particularly enthralling. Cikku Degiorgio notes that rivalry between ghannejja is only natural and just makes the sessions more interesting. Sometimes ghannejja would be shaking hands with their opponent, similar to a sporting match, showing that what they are saying is only for entertainment and they do not mean to cause any offence.

Example of Tal-Fjuri’s verses:

m int gejt gewwa dari

Biex titkellem xi ftit mieghi.

Jien l-ghana dejjem habbejtu

Inhossu l-hobby tieghi. (trans. Today, you visited my home in order to speak with me. I have always loved ghana, in fact I consider it my hobby.)

Karmnu Debono discovered ghana as a seven-year-old boy through his neighbour Guzeppi Xuereb known as ix-Xhudi a well-known ghannej who lived in Birkirkara in the parish of Saint Elena. Ix-Xhudi would often sing to the young Karmnu Debono and eventually started encouraging him to sing along.

Karmnu Debono has sung in a variety of ghana styles. He enjoys the Spirtu Pront style and together with Frans Baldacchino a.k.a. il-Budaj, is a pioneer of Hrejjef (lies), which has its roots in Spirtu Pront. He mentions, how around thirty years ago, il-Budaj and he were on a radio programme. Il-Pikipak challenged il-Budaj to a contest of lies. Basically they were each to sing in the Spirtu Pront manner, however each ghanja had to contain a far-fetched, non-sensical lie. An example of this would be:

Darba ntlift id-dar fejn noqghod

Tani genn rasi ddur bija.

Wara gimgha qbizt mit-tieqa

U sibt ruhi go Sqallija.

(trans. Once upon a time, I got lost in my own house and as a result I went insane. After a week, I jumped out of the window and I found myself in Sicily.)

Karmnu Debono insists that ghana is a natural talent. Unfortunately, today, many people consider themselves ghannejja but a true ghannej is hard to come by. Some of the new ghannejja can be rather stubborn and proud, refusing to admit that they do not know a particular old Maltese word and preferring instead to plod on. He continues that true ghana contains metaphors and words which may seem archaic. In fact Karmenu Debono has ghanjiet about wild flowers found around Malta and about traditional weight measures.

Karmenu Debono has often performed overseas in Detroit, USA, Toronto, Canada, Australia and Ragusa, Sicily. In 2002 his ghana play L-Ghajta nofs il-bejgh was performed at the National Ghana festival. He has also written poems about various saints, which have been published in Parish publications. Karmenu Debono has also been on the television programme Fatti tal-Hajja and he has discussed Maltese dialects on Campus FM with Dr Manwel Mifsud.