CD review: Listening to symphonic prayer

Joseph Sammut: Il-Kantici ta’ San Luqa (The Canticles of Luke the Evangelist An Oratorio for contralto, tenor, female choir and chamber orchestra.

Contemporary symphonic compositions are part of the intangible heritage of a nation, not only for the intrinsic sake of the music but also for the layers of history that lie hidden beneath such compositions.

There was a time when such music was considered a genre only to be performed in highly respectable places; it was considered the music for connoisseurs.

While ethnic music is normally the work of players who can only play music by ear but lack any form of music training, symphonic music deals with more elaborate notation constructions and requires an academic preparation.

The production of this CD brings to the fore the contribution of local Maltese composers to the field of chamber and symphonic music, and features a work by Joseph Sammut which he finished in 2007.

The music is inspired from the text of the three canticles to be found in St Luke’s gospel and from where this work got its name. For those not well versed in church music and religious canticles, these three songs of praise are the following:

The first is the Magnificat, dedicated to Mary. The second song is Simeon’s, and known as the Nunc dimittis. The third one is the canticle of Zachary entitled Benedictus Dominus. Each canticle takes its name from the first word or two of the song.

Sammut is a household name for those conversant with Maltese music. On his own merit, he built an impressive musical career at a time when it was extremely difficult, due to the limited resources, to study music. At the same time, his career shows the manner in which classical and symphonic music was taught to our musicians, and this pedagogical exercise makes this composition part of a country’s intangible heritage.

Behind the pedagogical methods, there is a history that goes back hundreds of years which one maestro after another imparted on his disciples while each pupil sought to improve on the talents of his master.

This CD brings Sammut’s talents to the fore. Irrespective of whether the listener likes or dislikes sacred music, this CD is an expression of the musical talents of the composer as well as an attestation of the style of music that our students listened to up to recent times before our island entered the domain of world music.

Sammut was born in 1926, that is, the year when Bella Bartók wrote his first piano concerto. While Sammut does not follow in Bartók’s footsteps, his compositions show he is an experienced conductor who has absorbed music, and this composition and recording crowns his long musical career.

Sammut is inspired by the conventional musical rhythm that reached its epitome with popular signature tunes of American film music. One can feel such an influence in his symphonic arias.

At the same time, he does not forget this is also a religious work and immediately seeks to strike a balance by contrasting the pom­pous notes with sombre notes for the religious lyrics.

He pays special attention to the text and makes sure his listener is not disturbed by any sort of haughty sounds once the singers start to sing the religious notes.

Therefore, each time the lyrics come in, the composition becomes more devote and the singing retains the posture of a religious player.

The religious songs are set in a secular background. They are only an instrument in the hands of the composer to help the listener to free his or her senses and enter the world of imagination – in a fictitious theatre, listening to prayer with the same excitement as watching a movie.

It was befitting of APS Bank to have this music performed at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, in the form of a national concert and to record it on CD so that such intangible heritage can continue to be enjoyed by present and future generations.