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| Page 8 | Music - Light | November 2005 |
Mal-Kant Tal Ba£ar -
Songs and Dances from Malta by Charles Camilleri
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By Alidë Kohlhaas Mal-Kant Tal-Ba£ar, Songs and Dances from Malta is a charming collection of songs by Charles Camilleri, one of Malta's most prolific composers. The CD consists of 13 songs, most of them with lyrics written by Joe Friggieri and sung by mezzo-soprano Sophia Grech.
Camilleri writes music, both sacred and profane, if one might use such a cliché. In other words, he writes music that is intellectually challenging and also music of a lighter kind. Among his about 300 compositions is an oratorio Pawlu ta' Malta (St. Paul of Malta), so there is, indeed, sacred music among his works. This CD is one of the lighter kind, offering what can be called 'popular songs.' The composer is famous in his native country for going around the island nation, before anyone else ever thought of it, to collect folk music, known as g£ana (spontaneously improvised songs) that, until his effort, had been passed on only from generation to generation verbally, but had never been written down as scores or as lyrics. On the other side of the scale, Camilleri is frequently commissioned throughout Europe to write what we loosely call 'classical' music, though his scores are generally very contemporary. He has also written an opera, Il-Weg£da (The Promise), which seems to have been translated into English as The Maltese Cross. Until a few years ago, he was the first ever professor of music at the University of Malta, yet continued to write music and travel a great deal. He still does, although he is now 74. He obtained his musical education at the University of Toronto, but returned to his native country with his wife and children in 1965 - living there and in England simultaneously. Before he left he was also associated with the Toronto CBC Orchestra, now defunct. In Mal-Kant Tal-Ba£ ar he has captured the flavor of Malta in a lighter manner, working with lyricist Friggieri, who also happens to be a professor of philosophy at the University of Malta and chairman of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts. When he is not doing that, he also is a playwright and theatre director. The other collaborator on this CD is Ms Grech, who has performed internationally, including here in Canada. She gives master classes in various countries and has recorded a number of CDs. Her voice is mellow and expressive. Anyone not familiar with the Maltese language will get a good sense of it because she enunciates the words very clearly. The first song on this CD is Il-Kewkba u-Dg £ajsa (The star and the Boat). It is a tender, gentle song that lingers long on the mind. Grech is accompanied by a group of musicians who seem to have come together just for this recording. They manage to capture the mood of the songs, both happy and contemplative, most effectively. They can be heard on tracks 1 to 8. Tracks 9 to 13 are played by the Melita Ensemble, a group with an excellent tone that is perfect for festa music. It captures the nature of four dances, and one nocturne, to perfection. Of course, it is Camilleri, who has brought out the joy and the melancholy of the nature of the Maltese. Although they are a Mediterranean nation, they are unique in that they are a composite of many nations, who have melded into this distinct Maltese race and culture that deserve far more attention that they are given. The language is so ancient that it can reach back to pre-New Testament times. If one listens to it, it sounds like a language perfectly suited to singing. Since English is the island's second language, its speakers have a lovely, lilting tone to the English language, unlike any other English accent I know. To be honest, I quite love the Maltese language and wish I could find the time to study it. Instead I know only a few words and phrases. Well, back to the CD, which contains the kind of music one might hear at a Maltese village festa. The song, Il-banda (the Brass Band) is a perfect example, happy and full of pep. This is a sound one can hear all over the island during the summer, when each town and village holds its own festa. Li Rajt (You who saw), on the other hand, is quite the opposite. It is contemplative, even melancholy as the song recalls the coming and then departing of one who left broken dreams behind. Dawra Durella is another happy, go-lucky sounding song based on a children's game similar to ring-a-ring-a-roses, and has the effect of inviting one to get up and dance. The fifth track has only an English title, Love's sorrow. It is gentle, woeful and quite the opposite of the previous song. We sense here more of Camilleri's musical nature. Talba is a prayer and a hymn of praise to God, which Grech renders to perfection. I could follow the text with ease even though my Maltese is so imperfect. Jekk (If) changes the mood back to the more happy nature of the islanders. It, too, invites to dance. The song asks many what ifs, most of them related to the sea. Which brings me to the title of the CD. I cannot translate it clearly, but it implies that most of the songs are related to or about the sea, which one can understand since Malta and its sister island, Gozo, is totally surrounded by the Mediterranean. The next song is called Min Qatt Ma Ra (Those who have never seen). It has a gently contemplative, with a sad undertone that Grech captures exceedingly well. By the way, the "Q" is not pronounced in the manner that we would in English. It is almost silent, in the back of the throat. Not an easy sound to capture, but once learned is never forgotten. The remainder of the songs is mostly dances. Track nine is called simply Carnival dance, to which the Melita Ensemble gives full measure, as it does to The Dance and the Kiss. These two songs simply spell 'Festa'. The tone changes in Nocturne, as one can expect from its title. Here, again, we sense more of Camilleri's musical inclinations. This nocturne is really quite lovely in its simplicity. L-Imnarja celebrates the Festival of St. Peter and St. Paul on June 29 in the fortress city of Mdina. It is a festa, but quite different from the usual festas. The final track on the CD is Dance of Youth, which is again very happy-go-lucky in tone, yet I sense underneath it a more sombre note to the interpretation of youth. Perhaps Camilleri wants his young listeners to know that the dance of youth can quickly change to that of old age.
For finding information about
a good guidebook about Malta, and its sister island, Gozo,
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