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Etnika is one of Malta's leading modern folk bands founded in 2000. The four founder members were composer Ruben Żahra, traditional instrument maker Ġużi Gatt, researcher Steve Borġ and musician Andrew Alamango. Their main task was to present a revival of old traditional Maltese instruments, at times, with a fusion with contemporary ones. In 2000 Etnika released their first album, entitled ''Nafra''. Their second album, ''Żifna'' (Dance), was released in 2003; it depicts the sentiment of the island nation with its cross cultural Mediterranean influences. Their efforts were rewarded by the Award of Music Achievement in the 2001 Malta Music Awards, held in Ta'Qali. ==The beginning== In 1999, researcher Steve Borġ, identified a collection of old Maltese melodies at King's College London. The Welshman Edward Jones, formerly the bard to the Prince of Wales, had published these melodies around 1807. Borġ made the melodies public through Etnika in 2000 at the official launch of an exhibition on traditional Maltese instruments. Jones, born in Bala, North Wales, reportedly collected hundreds of Welsh melodies during his walks around the principality. At the same time composer Ruben Zahra was returning to Malta following years of academic studies at the Conservatorio di Musica di Frosinone, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. An article written well over twenty years before about the demise of the Maltese bagpipe, the ''żaqq'', intrigued the folklorist Guzi Gatt. In 1977 two British students, J.K. Partridge and Frank Jeal, had published their research, entitled 'The Maltese Żaqq', in The Galpin Society Journal. It remains one of the most scholarly and informative works written in this instrument to date. The article described the ''żaqq''s musical abilities, but the authors also claimed that "The Maltese, with few notable exceptions, show little interest in their own folk culture, and any artificial attempts at revival seem unlikely to succeed. It seems sad that an island that can boast an excellent Scots pipe band, can find no room to preserve, perhaps even develop, its own native bagpipe." Gatt sought out Toni Cachia Il-Ħammarun from Naxxar, one of Malta's remaining Maltese bagpipe builders and musicians. Well into his eighties, Cachia had been playing the traditional instrument since the late 1920s. He agreed to help Gatt in his quest to save the żaqq from extinction. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Etnika」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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