I had some maintenance and admin work to do and then strolled over to the other side of the Grand Harbour to meet friends. The sky cleared up over night accompanied by strong winds and brought forward its full Mediterranean. Very nice sitting outside at mild 26 Celsius.
Fountain in the Upper Barakka Gardens, Valletta
View to Fort Ricasoli
Earlier in 2015 Electronic Music Malta (EMM) founded itself out of Maltese music enthusiasts, and yesterday night we joined friends for a performance in St James Cavalier, Valletta. Before appreciating the performance itself, I was impressed by St James Cavalier itself and how "the war machine has turned into a cultural center", with a sparkling cultural life in the walls of the old gun battery. It reminded me of the of B-05, just that of course in the middle of a beautiful city like Valletta, such efforts are by far more easy going. For the electronic music itself, I found the electronics more fascinating than the music at first. Most of the equipment in use, is built and assembled by the artists themselves, and it is far ahead of anything you may think of when it comes to entertainment audio equipment or commercial DJs. The repertoire was covering legends like Jean Michelle Jarre, a piece from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Kraftwerk to Depeche Mode and others. I can't say, it is my kind of music. But without it, there would be no electronic dance music either. And without that there would be no pop music the way we know it. So, I appreciate electronic music as a research lab with all its experimental features which go beyond creating only tones by electronic means.
From Germany we made a quick trip to Malta and beside the holiday aspect, I had the honor and pleasure to be invited for a research seminar to the University of Malta. This is a very impressive place with very friendly people, and we enjoyed it a lot. More on the stay you find in the travel blog, and here just a few snapshots from the stay in Valletta, Mdina and Rabat.
Even the group of islands is located very near - just off the coasts of Italy, Tunisia and Libya - I never before went to Malta. Pre-history started in Malta about 5200 years ago, with hunters from Sicily. Since then it had a lively history, which is exciting to study. And nearly anywhere in Malta you see its history and culture at such high density, that it would take you ages to explore the small country really in depth. I had the honor and pleasure to give a research seminar at the University of Malta, which itself was founded by Jesuits in 1592. The seminar itself, I enjoyed very much, and more so the hospitality and good humor of my kind hosts. Malta has an indigenous breed of bees which gave the islands the nickname "Land of Honey", and actually there are a lot of aspects which make the lands biblical. Powers have changed often, and the last scares of siege (but not invasion) are from the attacks of Italy and Germany.
I was very much surprised by the size of the fortification of Valletta. It is an amazing city and current construction activities are developing it into a perfect blend of history and modernity. It took me a long time to make my first trip to Malta. But it won't take me long to come back.
