In Malta, the “spirtu pront” form of the local folk music known as għanna–pronounced “ah-na” (the għ is silent)–is a particularly beloved form of art. In a typical spirtu pront session, two għannejja are lined up against each other in what is imagined to be about an hour-long competition. The two għannejja start by introducing themselves (in song), then they start singing about a particular topic which has either been predetermined or just develops in the course of their musical conversation. The topics are sometimes very serious, addressing social issues and political themes, but they generally deal with them using wit. In this video, masters Tony Camilleri and Il Bambinu strut their spirtu pront stuff.

Andorra is a Catalan-speaking 181 square mile country found high in the eastern Pyrenees mountains, bordering both France and Spain. According to legend, King Charles the Great (King Charlemagne), who was King of the the Franks starting in the year 768 and then Roman Emperor from 800 until his death in 814, granted the people of Andorra a charter to their land in 805 in exchange for their fighting for Christian France against Islamic Moors. Charlemagne’s grandson, Charles the Bald (most always seen in portraits, for some reason, wearing his crown) declared the Count of Urgell, a Catalan-speaking county in what is now Spain, the overlord of Andorra. Eventually Andorra became a principality, with the co-princes being the Bishop of Urgell and the President of France. Andorra has been able to remain relatively autonomous by shifting its allegiance from support of one of its ruling nations to another. Only in 1993 did Andorrans finally adopt their own constitution and enter the United Nations as an independent nation.

The folk music of Andorra is, not surprisingly, a mix of French and Spanish sounds with a distinct Catalan flavor. As we see in this video, at public folk festivals Andorrans will dance a mean contrapás.

We conclude our week exploring the music of Europe’s “small states” with our own in-class interpretation of Malta’s unique Għana spirtu pront. In the traditional poetic singing competition, while each of the għannejja has a lot of latitude in what he sings, there are also strict rules for the form. For example, each improvised response must a rhyme. Plus, phrases should be in four lines, with 8 syllables in the first, 7 in the second, 8 in the third, 7 in the fourth. Third, the singers music use a poetic version of the ancient Maltese language which often has multiple meanings, draws heavily on proverbs and shared stories, and can come off as seeming self-righteous–which is why għannejja sometimes shake each other’s hands during the performance, letting the other know that what is being said is just for the competition and should not be taken personally. In class when we introuce kids to the art form we know better than attempt any of the above. Instead, we just have fun, and let the għana chips fall where they may.

We end our week of Greek music with our version of “Milo Mou Kokkino,” a song that is inexticably bound to the dance called the Kalimatiano. Of the most traditional are Greek circle dances in which dancers hold hands, wrists or shoulders, or link to one another by both holding a handkerchief. Usually men lead dances, and while dancers in the circle can be of either gender, sometimes men break off into an outer circle that surrounds an inner circle of female dancers. In some regions there is a prescribed order of dancers; men are first in a line, in descending order of age, then come women in a similar order. The oldest member of the village will lead the dance. Elsewhere the circle is composed of the group of families; the husband leads the wife, then the eldest son, his wife and then their children. We empower you to do any of the above as you dance along to “Milo Mou Kokkino,” but while you dance, you are absolutely required to exclaim, as Greeks do, “OPA!”