Dun Gorg!, an oratorio inspired by the life of St Gorg Preca, will be presented at St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, on Friday at 8.30 p.m. and on Sunday at 8 p.m.
The oratorio - music by Charles Camilleri and lyrics by Oliver Friggieri - narrates and interprets the life of the first Maltese saint and identifies his mission with the basic characteristics of the Maltese people.
The soloists are sopranos Claire Massa and Claire Caruana and tenor Charles Vella Zarb. The narrator will be Philip Farrugia Randon.
The Collegium Musicum Choir (orchestra leader is Mario Bisazza) and the orchestra will be conducted by Dion Buhagiar.
Melodious music and simple poetic language blend together to provide a work that is enjoyable to hear but which also conveys a spiritual message.
A souvenir booklet with the full text of the oratorio, in the original Maltese version and in an English translation, has been published for the occasion and will be distributed prior to the performance.
The oratorio narrates poetically the main experiences of Dun Gorg as a man of God. It starts with the representation of his problematic youth and the divine call he had early in life, eventually depicting the difficulties he was bound to face and, finally, the universal acknowledgment he attained as a national saintly figure. The basic aspects of his personality as founder of MUSEUM, accomplished preacher and prolific writer are given great importance in the whole narration.
Dun Gorg! is being performed not only to celebrate the priest's canonisation, but also to pay tribute to the society he founded, MUSEUM, in recognition of the fundamental role it has played in the religious and cultural life of the Maltese for the past 100 years, a spokesman for the promoters said.
"This particular work is closely tied to my heart, especially dear to me, perhaps even more than Pawlu ta' Malta," Prof. Camilleri said.
Mro Buhagiar believes this occasion will be another feather in the cap of Collegium Musicum. "I do hope this performance will be what we mean it to be: A real tribute to our saint and to our religious and cultural heritage. We are doing out utmost to reach this aim. My challenge, as usual, is to go deep into the text, both words and musical score, and to come forth with a faithful and equally creative interpretation. Here, I know we are dealing with essential feelings pertaining to both faith and national identity".
"I have tried not only to identify and to interpret the salient points in Dun Gorg's life, but also to somehow transform them again into images of the life of all," Prof. Friggieri said. "Identity and faith, tradition and modernity, these are the aspects one hopes will emerge here as challenges the country has to face at the moment and which the younger generations can tackle with courage and with the conviction that life involves much more than living, since it is meant also and mainly to be understood.
"There is an answer to questions, even though we may eventually forget what our questions were. Answers, based on faith easily and naturally transcending reason: That is where, I believe, this man gets his real greatness from. The oratorio strives to convey this message, specifically to the younger generations. Their faith and their modernity can really go ahead together. No problem! Faith can and should regain its pride of place in the arts, and this work is intended to give another push in that direction," Prof. Friggieri added.
Dun Gorg! is presented by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture under the patronage of President Eddie Fenech Adami.