ANDREW PACE - PhD 2015

316 Pages·2015·15.8 MB·English

Participating in the musical tradition of prejjem:
Transmitting the guitar culture of għana within and
between insular musical communities of islanders in
Malta and the Maltese-Australian diaspora
A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the Faculty of Humanities
2015
Andrew Pace
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
List of contents
List of figures 5
Accompanying CD and DVD track listings 7
Abstract 9
Declaration and copyright statement 10
Acknowledgements 11
Brief notes on Maltese language orthography 13
Introduction
14
Introducing għana and prejjem 17
An overview of historical and contemporary għana research 23
My research methodologies 27
Mediterranean and island music studies 30
Research questions and thesis structure 32
Chapter One
38
Transmitting symbols: mediating histories and biographies through
the Maltese guitar
A historical background 40
1.1 Maltese guitar construction 46
1.2 Maltese luthiers 56
Indri Brincat il-Pupa 56
The Maltese ‘harp’ guitar 61
Other luthiers and their philosophies 67
1.3 The aesthetics and materiality of Maltese guitars 74
1.3.1: Local and foreign identities in the Maltese guitar 77
ta’ Barra / ta’ Malta 78
The indigenisation of other 82
1.3.2: Layers of symbolism in the Maltese guitar 85
Memorabilia and memoriality 90
Conclusion 98
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Chapter Two 100
Transmitting style: developing the musical norms of prejjem
2.1 Għana musical terminology 104
Guitar keys and tunings 105
Solfège 108
2.2 The akkumpanjament 110
2.2.1 The role of the akkumpanjament 113
2.2.2 Typical akkumpanjament patterns 118
Prelude (il-preludju) 119
Verses 119
Coda (kadenza) 120
2.2.3 Embellished akkumpanjament patterns 122
2.3 The prim kitarrist 125
2.3.1 A history of prejjem 126
2.3.2 The components of improvisation 133
Part one: practical processes of improvisation 134
Part two: conceptualising improvisation 139
2.3.3 Examples of prejjem improvisations 146
Conclusion 154
Chapter Three
161
Transmitting musical knowledge: a model for learning prejjem
3.1 Social environments of learning 164
Toward a model of the għana community 170
Interacting in the għana community 173
3.2 A model of learning prejjem: stages one to three 180
Stage one 182
Stage two 188
Stage three 192
3.3 Recordings as a learning tool 199
Frederick Mallia ir-Re 202
Ray Attard 204
Recordings, rites of passage and liminality 208
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3.4 A model of learning prejjem: stages four and five 211
Stage four 212
Stage five 215
Conclusion 216
Chapter Four 219
Transmitting sociability: negotiating community identities
through performance
4.1 Forming communities around għana 223
Għana as a presentational performance 223
Framing the experience of għana 226
Musicking 230
4.2 Three case studies of musicking 233
Case study 1: serata at Johnny’s Bar, Żejtun, Malta 234
Case study 2: serata at Klabb Għannejja Maltin, Melbourne 238
Case study 3: serata in Victor Borg’s garage, Sydney 242
Case studies analysis 246
Part one: constructing spaces 246
Part two: community and intimacy 250
4.3 Transnational musicking 261
Part one: (re-)constructing friendships and social spaces 265
Part two: gift networks 272
Conclusion 276
Conclusion 279
Bibliography 289
Interviews cited 313
Other audio and video recordings cited 315
Total word count: 79,286
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List of figures
Fig. 1. Map of the Maltese islands. 15
Fig. 2. Sequence and pairing of four opponents in għana spirtu pront. 19
Fig. 3. Sequence and pairing of six opponents in għana spirtu pront. 20
Fig. 4. ‘il Għannej’ title page header, 1878. 43
Fig. 5. Pen and ink drawing by Alfred Gerada: guitar and melodeon player 43
in front of Verdala Palace, Buskett, c.1930s
Fig. 6. ‘The Guitar Player’, painting by Edward Caruana Dingli, 1927. 44
Fig. 7. Key measurements for Maltese guitar models in use today. 47
Fig. 8. Emmanuele Ċilia ta’ Żabbett and Karmenu Cardona it-Tapp, c.1931. 50
Fig. 9. Karmenu Cardona it-Tapp, c.1931. 51
Fig. 10. Emmanuele Ċilia ta’ Żabbett, c.1931. 52
Fig. 11. Emmanuele Mercieca is-Semenza, c.1931. 53
Fig. 12. Ġużeppi Prato, c.1931. 53
Fig. 13. Unidentified kitarristi, c.1920s. 55
Fig. 14. Indri Brincat il-Pupa pictured with a terżin tat-tromba ‘harp’ 60
guitar, 2004.
Fig. 15. Terżin tat-trombi made and owned by Indri Brincat il-Pupa. 62
Fig. 16. One-arm harp guitar by Chris Knutsen, c.1896-1897. 64
Fig. 17. Continuous-arm harp guitar by Chris Knutsen, c.1895-1898. 64
Fig. 18. Pasquale Taraffo with a Settimio Gazzo harp guitar, c.1900. 66
Fig. 19. Harp guitar by Rosario Porto and Figli and Sons, c.1898-1903. 66
Fig. 20. Harp mandolin by Rosario Porto and Figli and Sons, c.1903. 67
Fig. 21. Front and rear of a bagħal pastardin by Carmelo Grech, c.2012. 70
Fig. 22. Front and rear of a kitarra tat-tromba by Carmelo Grech, c.2012. 71
Fig. 23. Kitarrina tat-tromba by Crispin Attard, c.2010. 73
Fig. 24. Għanafest festival logos: 2008, 2012, 2013. 88
Fig. 25. Kalċidon Vella ta’ Mustaċċa with the guitar that once belonged to 92
Żeppi Farrugia ta’ l-Aħmar.
Fig. 26. La guitar tuning. 106
Fig. 27. Doh guitar tuning. 106
Fig. 28. Prim guitar tuning, akkordat. 107
Fig. 29. Prim guitar tuning, transpurtat (first string only). 107
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Fig. 30. Prim guitar tuning, transpurtat (first and sixth strings). 107
Fig. 31. Kitarra ensemble’s string tunings and tablature for tonic and 109
dominant-seventh chords in the key of sol.
Fig. 32. La guitar verse chord pattern. 120
Fig. 33. Doh guitar verse chord pattern. 120
Fig. 34. Għannej kadenza chord pattern, La guitar. 121
Fig. 35. Għannej kadenza chord pattern, Doh guitar. 121
Fig. 36. Prejjem kadenza chord sequence, La guitar. 122
Fig. 37. Prejjem kadenza chord sequence, Doh guitar. 122
Fig. 38. Nissekondjaw La guitar pattern. 123
Fig. 39. Embellished Doh guitar pattern. 124
Fig. 40. “1930s” La guitar accompaniment style. 124
Fig. 41. Għana spirtu pront melody in sol. 145
Fig. 42. Karmenu Cardona it-Tapp prejjem: ‘ix-Xudi taħt it-tieka’. 149
Fig. 43. Indri Brincat il-Pupa prejjem: ‘Prejjem tas-sol’ (stanza ten). 150
Fig. 44. Indri Brincat il-Pupa prejjem: ‘Prejjem tas-sol’ (stanza two). 151
Fig. 45. Żeppi Farrugia ta’ l-Aħmar prejjem: ‘Prejjem tas-sol’ (stanzas three 153
and four).
Fig. 46. Model of the għana community as a composite of communities of 171
practice.
Fig. 47. Marcia Herndon’s model of relationship categories engaged with 176
by the għannej Salvu Darmanin ir-Ruġel.
Fig. 48. Model of nested relationships within the kitarrist community of 177
practice.
Fig. 49. Table of familial links to għana: prim kitarristi. 186
Fig. 50. Table of familial links to għana: akkumpanjist kitarristi. 186
Fig. 51. Plan of Johnny’s Bar, Żejtun, Malta. 235
Fig. 52. Plan of the main hall at Klabb Għannejja Maltin, Melbourne, 239
Australia.
Fig. 53. Plan of Victor Borg’s garage, Sydney, Australia. 243
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Accompanying CD track listing
Track 1. ix-Xudi taħt it-tieka. Malta: Odeon A24752a, 1931 [shellac]. Reissued [CD]:
Malta’s lost voices. Malta: Filfla Records, 2010. Ġużeppi Xuereb ix-Xudi (għannej) and
Carmena Vella (spoken), featuring prim kitarrist Karmenu Cardona it-Tapp
accompanied by Ghejtu Azzopardi il-Gass. (3’03”)
Track 2. Four stanzas of prejjem by Karmenu Cardona it-Tapp, extracted in sequence
from track 1 (as transcribed in figure 42). (1’05”)
Track 3. Prejjem tas-sol bl’għana. Rediffusion Malta, broadcast 28th June 1959.
Audiovisual archive, University of Malta, CD256 [CD]. Kitarri biss performed by Indri
Brincat il-Pupa, accompanied by Ninu Sammut. (3’53”)
Track 4. Stanza ten and stanza two of prejjem tas-sol performed by Indri Brincat il-
Pupa, extracted in sequence from track 3 (as transcribed in figures 43 and 44). (0’48”)
Track 5. Prejjem tas-sol. Private recording, no date (1970s) [CD]. Kitarri biss
performed by Żeppi Farrugia ta’ l-Aħmar, accompanied by Joseph Camilleri and
Charles Farrugia. Note: this recording appears to have been dubbed at a slightly slower
speed than it was recorded at. (6’25”)
Track 6. Two stanzas of prejjem tas-sol performed by Żeppi Farrugia ta’ l-Aħmar,
extracted from track 5 (as transcribed in figure 45). (0’55”)
Track 7. Recording of għana fil-għoli performed by għannej Kalċidon Zammit. Fredu
Cachia il-Fra (prim guitar), Joe Cutajar il-Witli (La guitar) and Andrew Pace (Doh
guitar) accompanying. Field recording by Andrew Pace in Fredu Cachia’s home,
Hopper’s Crossing, Melbourne, Australia. 6th March 2014 (Pace et al., 2014a). (3’56”)
Track 8. Recording of prejjem tal-l’għana fil-għoli. Prejjem featuring Peter Attard il-
Bukkaċċ (prim guitar), Joe Cutajar il-Witli (La guitar) and Andrew Pace (Doh guitar).
Field recording by Andrew Pace in Joe Cutajar’s home, Ringwood, Melbourne,
Australia. 10th March 2014 (Pace et al., 2014b). (6’55”)
Track 9. Recording of prejjem tar-re minore. Prejjem featuring Peter Attard il-Bukkaċċ
(prim guitar), Joe Cutajar il-Witli (La guitar) and Andrew Pace (Doh guitar). Field
recording by Andrew Pace in Joe Cutajar’s home, Ringwood, Melbourne, Australia.
10th March 2014 (Pace et al., 2014c). (3’25”)
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Accompanying DVD track listing
Track 1. Second session of għana spirtu pront recorded in Victor Borg’s garage,
Sydney, Australia, 19th November 1989 (Cutajar et al. 1989). (44’47”)
Track 2. Prejjem tas-sol. Kalċidon Vella accompanied by John Grima tal-Belt and Joe
Bonello is-Skuti. Malta, 2009 (Vella et al. 2009). (8’57”)
Track 3. Prejjem tar-re minore. Peter Attard il-Bukkaċċ accompanied by Tony Camilleri
is-Sponos and William Camilleri. Melbourne, Australia, 2014 (Attard et al. 2014b).
(5’42”)
Track 4. Prejjem nofs ton. Lippu Gauchi accompanied by Manuel Casha and
unidentified. Melbourne, Australia, c.2000s (Gauchi et al. no date 2000s). (3’31”)
Track 5. ‘Continental’ guitar music. Ġużeppi Borg Kekkinu and ‘iż-Żużu’. Malta, 1992
(Borg 1992). (5’24”)
Track 6. Indri Brincat prejjem tas-sol. Accompanied by Mose Casha ta’ Lucy, Karmnu
Buġeja ta’ Mannan and Ray Attard. Malta, 2003. (Brincat 2003). (5’16”)
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Abstract
Prejjem is a style of guitar music that is practiced in the Maltese islands and its diaspora
as part of the għana folksinging tradition. Although għana has been studied by a
number of ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, sociologists and linguists, its guitar
aspect has been almost entirely overlooked by academia. Emerging in Malta over a
century ago, prejjem is analogous to the guitar component of flamenco or fado. It, too, is
a complex improvised guitar tradition that serves to accompany and complement a
vocal tradition and which simultaneously exists as a separate instrumental ensemble
practice. Guitarists maintain a close-knit association with the għana community, but
they also engage in a set of activities and behaviours with one another that are unique to
their position within it. In this thesis, I examine both the social and musical attributes of
prejjem and its communities of guitarists, employing a range of methodologies and
theories drawn from a number of disciplines to reveal the totality of the practice as it
exists in Malta and its diaspora (specifically Australia). Drawing extensively upon
ethnographic fieldwork research that I have undertaken in Malta and Australia, I explore
the material culture of prejjem, its musical forms, its history, its performance
environments, the sociability of its participants and the means by which performers
develop musical ability. These topics are bound together as a holistic investigation into
how knowledge about prejjem exists in the għana community, how social factors shape
the forms of this knowledge and, most importantly, how this knowledge is transmitted
and transformed as it passes between members of this community.
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Declaration
I declare that no portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in
support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other
university or other institute of learning
Copyright statement
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