Sea Songs of the Mediterranean Conference: Collection, Comparison, Analysis

The Sea as a Place of Musical Exchange: Shanty singing across the Mediterranean

Stan Hugill in his seminal work describes port cities as ‘shanty marts’ where sailors would gather from around the world to exchange stories and songs (Hugill: 1961). Port cities are often considered to be the key setting of musical exchange through their function as a hub for trade, travel and work opportunities. Many studies have been undertaken that explore musical cultures that developed in specific port cities such as Marseille (Van der Miesen: 2024) and Izmir (Fuhrmann: 2009). The sea itself as a place of musical exchange, however, has been largely ignored in favour of a land-centric (often nationalistic) portrayal of maritime music. In reality, the men of the merchant service were a salmagundi of men from varied nationalities, backgrounds and occupations. When we examine shanty repertoire, we can clearly observe the melting pot of musical cultures…