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Grazio Grech: Ġrajjiet is-Soċjetà Mużikali u Filarmonika Leone Għawdex. Gozo Publishers, 2012. 429 pp.

I became interested in writing a review for Grazio Grech’s book Ġrajjiet is-Soċjetà Mużikali u Filarmonika Leone Għawdex when, as I was going through the book, I came across an interesting anecdote referring to my great-great-grandfather Ġorġ Gatt, who presumably was the first person to make known to the public the new name of the band in 1881.

Genealogy being one of my passions, I decided I would read the whole book, in case it provided more information about my roots.

As far as I am aware, the book is the first well-referenced scholary work about a Gozitan band. Members of the public who have to heart the social history of our nation will have to obtain a copy of the publication.

Grech is a meticulous and fine researcher. It becomes quite clear by the end of the book that, while the band recognises its roots within the first musical entity of the island (known as l’antica societa), the author seems reluctant to categorically name it the first philharmonic band of Gozo.

I found interesting the discussion regarding the name of the band. The author states categorically that the band was not called Il Leone after Pope Leo XIII. Most probably, the choice of the name was influenced by the contemporary British colonial rule, Britain having the lion featuring in the coat-of-arms of its Royal Family, together with the unicorn.

The first well-referenced scholary book about a Gozitan band ever

The book includes a great amount of original material. The sonnet in Italian in honour of St George on page 65 is proof of the band’s participation in the festivities in honour of the martyr saint. This was many years before it donated the beautiful statue of the Assumption, now revered in the Gozo Cathedral.

Grech is by far the best researcher when it comes to the history of the bands established in Gozo over the years. He has slowly established himself as an authority on the subject, mainly due to the fact that he has been researching the progress of Gozitan bands for the past four decades or so.

Back in 1967 he had already published his booklet Ġrajjiet il-Banda Il Leone ta’ Għawdex, and his 1998 monograph Erbatax-il Profil ta’ Mużiċisti Għawdxin is a must for lovers of what has been rightly termed Gaulitana, the history of all that is Gozitan.

Gozo being so small I have to say that, although I do not hail from a family that necessarily sympathises with this particular band, I continue to stand by the idea that the two musical bands of Gozo’s town reflect very much each other in their history. They are, after all, two siblings quite often ‘posivitely’ envious of each other’s progress and achievements.