In search of the lost voices

What will you sing when your child is born? And what will you sing when you miss your loved ones? And how to express one’s yearning for the lost land where we were raised?

In search of this lost voice, LIlħna Mitlufa is a celebration comprising of dramaturgy around an ensemble of local musicians playing a varied repertoire of a tradition of rhyme, song and folk chants all belonging to a tradition of vocal expression inherited from the land to which we were once so con- nected. A musical journey in search of the voice that we had used by those who came before us to express their daily fears and aspirations.

An age old story, woven by singers past and present and told in poetry - spoken, written and recorded, where the għannej as the poet, the keeper of memory, the storyteller and comic entertainer, sings on our behalf and for those who have lost their voice, renewing an unbroken tradition; that of being together in song.

A story to instigate the search to find one’s own voice, and the need to sing when words are not enough.

The L-Ilħna Mitlufa (The Lost Voices) theatre project proposes new musical arrangements and contexts for theatrical performance of this age-old storytelling tradition called Għana. The ensemble aims to inspire with songs and ballads with the aim of giving a new theatrical relevance to poetic texts and songs whilst retaining the authentic character of the traditional voices so deeply rooted in our culture.

The newly-formed group including Anġlu Theuma ‘Il-Kina’, Mariele Żammit, Raymond Schembri ‘Iċ-Ċiranu’ and Frederick Mallia ‘Ir-Re’ is led by musician and musicologist Andrew Alamango with dramaturgy by Domenico Castaldo. Fejn hu leħni ta’ dari, Where is my old voice? kemm kelli leħni sabiħ How beautiful my voice was Fejn hu qiegħed ġibuhuli Wherever it is bring it to me għax naħseb ħaduli ir-riħ I think the wind has taken it away