Għana (folk music)

Għana (/ ˈɑːnə/ AH-nə) is a type of traditional Maltese folk music. Għana has two literal meanings. The first is richness, wealth and prosperity; the second is associated with singing, verse, rhyme and even kantaliena, a type of singing with a slow rhythm. Għana can be broken up into formal and informal practices.

A singer in this field is locally called "Għannej" (literally 'the singer').

Throughout its history, informal għana situations frequently occurred among both men and women. The informal sessions shed light on the importance of the music in day-to-day life of the Maltese. The very origins of għana can be traced back to early peasant farmers. Ciantar (2000), in his article 'From the Bar to the Stage' puts together the writings of a number of foreign and Maltese scholars who make the claim early għana instances represents both the "simple life of the Maltese peasant life", and the "intact natural environment of the island". Ciantar argues that the roots of għana are buried deep within traditional Maltese way of life, so much so that the two become synonymous with each other. Such a description by the scholar Aquilina (1931), for instance, emphasises this link between the people and għana:

How lovely it is, to hear from a remote and abandoned village amidst our island's hills, during a moonlit evening, while the cricket is hidden among the tomato plants, breaking the evening's silence, a handsome and healthy young man, swarthy as our country makes him, singing his għana ceaselessly. His soul would seemingly burst open with his singing! iantar argues that these songs evoke the very roots of Maltese poetry and literature, a claim that is also supported by 'Dun' Karm Psaila, Malta's national poet. In an article on the origin of Maltese poetry, Psaila goes on to link għana to the modest recreation and aspirations of the common people.

Both scholars, Aquilina and Psaila, place għana in the 'intact' natural environment of the island:

... one could listen to għana songs, accompanied by a guitar or an accordion, sung by men and women on sea costs and during popular feasts such as Lapsi (Ascension Day). Youths used to sing għana love-songs in the open country, or the streets, or in houses during work-time even at bars such as "Viva iz-zejza".

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