The żaqq (; with definite article: '; plural: ') is the most common form of
Maltese
Maltese may refer to:
* Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta
* Maltese alphabet
* Maltese cuisine
* Maltese culture
* Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people
* Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...
bagpipes
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
. The instrument was once associated with Maltese folk-festivals.
History
The use of the żaqq in daily life came to an end in the 1970s, the instrument having been perhaps replaced by the accordion earlier in the century.
In 1977 the
Galpin Society noted only nine remaining traditional pipers in Malta; the last of these, Toni "l-Hammarun" Cachia, died in 2004.
[. ''Last of the Maltese Bagpipers of Old'] There are ongoing attempts to revive the instrument by various folk music ensembles such as
Etnika Etnika is one of Malta's leading modern folk bands founded in 2000.
The four founder members were composer Ruben Å»ahra, traditional instrument maker Ä użi Gatt, researcher Steve BorÄ¡ and musician Andrew Alamango. Their main task was to prese ...
.
Etymology and spelling
It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the zapp due to a spelling error in a 1939 English-language publication. The Maltese word ''żaqq'' literally means "sack" or "belly" and derives from Arabic ' ( "skin"
s a receptacle. It is sometimes stated that ''żaqq'' derives from Italian ' but this is not the case.
Further reading
*Ruben Zahra.
Iz-zaqq the Maltese bagpipe'. Mills College Theses, Mills College
References
Maltese musical instruments
Bagpipes
{{Bagpipes-stub