'It-Terramaxka' - Maltese Street organ
andrewrob... -
1,141 views
- 1 year ago
A back view of the terramaxka.
The word terramaxka comes from the Maltese words kitarra magica, which means, magical guitar. In English, this instrument, is given a variety of names including, street organ, crank organ, barrel organ, fair organ and so forth. Street organs were imported in Malta from European countries such as France and Switzerland during the late nineteenth century.
A huge diversity of these organs could be found in Malta. The most common terramaxka was a very light weight organ usually hung round the neck of the busker, and rested on a small pole. These were operated using punched cards. All genres of music were played including the tango, operas, polka and waltzes. Some organs were operated by a crank turned by hand. Others were larger, usually decorated with flags and small wooden statues, these were driven by a donkey or the owner himself and attracted many young children. Similar to nowadays jukeboxes, were the coin-operated organs, called café organs, which were more commonly found in cafés and pubs popular to sailors. Finally, there were also terramaxkas found in homes of wealthy people. These organs used to be richly ornamented with gold and precious stones.
The terramaxkas were very common in the Maltese islands and were frequently exhibited to the public in local festas where the noisy bands where out of the way. Unfortunately, these marvelous instruments have long been gone, some sold to Americans and others were broken. Luckily, we have the only terramaxka left on the Maltese Islands to bring back the memories of our ancestors.
http://www.terramaxka.com/
The word terramaxka comes from the Maltese words kitarra magica, which means, magical guitar. In English, this instrument, is given a variety of names including, street organ, crank organ, barrel organ, fair organ and so forth. Street organs were imported in Malta from European countries such as France and Switzerland during the late nineteenth century.
A huge diversity of these organs could be found in Malta. The most common terramaxka was a very light weight organ usually hung round the neck of the busker, and rested on a small pole. These were operated using punched cards. All genres of music were played including the tango, operas, polka and waltzes. Some organs were operated by a crank turned by hand. Others were larger, usually decorated with flags and small wooden statues, these were driven by a donkey or the owner himself and attracted many young children. Similar to nowadays jukeboxes, were the coin-operated organs, called café organs, which were more commonly found in cafés and pubs popular to sailors. Finally, there were also terramaxkas found in homes of wealthy people. These organs used to be richly ornamented with gold and precious stones.
The terramaxkas were very common in the Maltese islands and were frequently exhibited to the public in local festas where the noisy bands where out of the way. Unfortunately, these marvelous instruments have long been gone, some sold to Americans and others were broken. Luckily, we have the only terramaxka left on the Maltese Islands to bring back the memories of our ancestors.
http://www.terramaxka.com/
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