Sacred music concert by Leone Band

The Leone Philharmonic Society presented a concert of sacred music at the Gozo Cathedral, Victoria, with the participation of the Cathedral Youth Choir and the Chorus Ecclesiae Cathedralis. The concert opened with two funerary marches - the Sicilian...

The Leone Philharmonic Society presented a concert of sacred music at the Gozo Cathedral, Victoria, with the participation of the Cathedral Youth Choir and the Chorus Ecclesiae Cathedralis.

The concert opened with two funerary marches - the Sicilian Ah! Si versate lacrime (Oh yes, shed tears!) and Croce e martirio (Cross and martyrdom) by former Leone Band conductor Giovanni Giumarra.

The Cathedral Youth Choir, directed by Matthew Sultana, sang the sacred motet Ave Crux Sancta (Hail, Holy Cross) by Giumarra, followed by two baroque pieces arranged for windband - Largo by George Frideric Handel and Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni.

The Chorus Ecclesiae Cathedralis also took part in the concert, with two chorales from Mendelssohn's St Paul oratorio, translated into Maltese by Fr George Mercieca.

The third section of the evening saw three musical items from the Romantic period: Blessed Are They from a requiem by Brahms, Adagio for Clarinet by Wagner and Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni.

The concert came to an end with a rendition of the 1911 funerary hymn La Croce, sung by the two choirs.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.