Ensemble formed to play centuries-old popular music

Music researcher Anna Borg Cardona is currently recording a 48-track CD of music that was popular in Malta between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Over the last 10 years, Mrs Borg Cardona has been collecting details about Maltese music from travelogues, from the British Library in London and other archives abroad.

She recently published her well researched book, A Musical Legacy: Malta-related music found in foreign libraries.

During her years of painstaking research, she came across music that was popular in different strata of Maltese society, ranging from court dances to salon music to folk.

Folk music was usually not written down but the musical scores Mrs Borg Cardona came across were either written down by travellers themselves or by people they had asked to write scores for them.

Edward Jones, a Welshman who was harper to the Prince of Wales, for example, used to collect music from all parts of the world, including Malta.

In order to get as close a sound as possible to Renaissance music, Mrs Borg Cardona invited Hermann Buchner, an Austrian musician, to Malta.

"Among the instruments Dr Buchner brought over with him is a regal - a 16th century small bellow organ - a minute recorder known as a garklein, a cornemuse, a rauschfife, a hurdy gurdy and a crumhorn - extremely unusual instruments that have produced a wonderful 16th century sound," Mrs Borg Cardona enthused.

The hurdy gurdy already existed in the ninth century and in the 17th century it became more of a beggar's instrument. It was known in France, Italy, Germany, England and Scandinavian countries.

The hurdy gurdy is a string instrument. The handle at one end turns a wheel which sets the strings playing. The instrument can produce a long bass note known as a drone, but can also produce a melody with the finger-keys played by the left hand.

"The crumhorn is a long pipe with a twisted end and comes in different sizes. Once again, this is a reconstruction of a 16th century instrument. You may have seen this instrument in Renaissance paintings," she said.

For Maltese folk music tracks, the tambur and rabbuba were used.

The tambur is a large tambourine with jingles while the rabbuba, also known as rambuba or zavzufa is a friction drum.

Other instruments used in the recording include harp, flute and piano.

The musicians taking part in the recording, apart from Mrs Borg Cardona and Dr Buchner, are Silvio Zammit, Ramona Zammit, Anne Marie Camilleri Podestà and Mrs Borg Cardona's daughter, Bettina.

"We are calling ourselves the Gukulari Ensemble. According to a 1419 document, the gukulari are the earliest Maltese musicians we know of.

"They probably sang, danced, rhymed, entertained and played several instruments much like the mediaeval troubadours," Mrs Borg Cardona said.

Profits from the sale of the CD will go towards the Malta Cancer Foundation. Part-sponsors of the CD are Air Malta, Island Beverages, the French Embassy, Alliance Francaise, and the Malta Tourism Authority.

"A CD of this kind of music would be a wonderful memento of these islands for visitors.

"If Malta truly wants to tap the niche of cultural tourism, the performance of music and dance from various levels of Maltese society would fill a void which has been felt for a long time".