A substantial amount of money was collected for animal welfare at the annual open-air concert held last month at the iconic Girgenti Palace at Siġġiewi.

Paradoxically, as on previous occasions, the welfare of the animals in the locality was not taken into consideration.

The compositions selected were surely not compatible with the serene, peaceful and pastoral environment that prevails at Girgenti, completely disturbing through noise pollution the rich fauna that abounds in the fertile lush vale and surrounding hills.

In my opinion, the music to be played in such bucolic venues should evoke the spirit of the place, making it a place of the spirit, idealising rural life with pastoral compositions like Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, 1st Movement and Shepherds’ Chorus as well as his Moonlight Sonata, Schubert’s Serenade and the Trout, Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune, Shostakovitch’s The Gadfly and mandolin concertos by Marcello, Vivaldi and by the little-known Maltese composer Giuseppe Frendo (1820-1880) whose mandolin concerto titled L’Etoile de Bonheur is being played in chamber music halls all over Germany.

The work of the many volunteers for this worthy initiative was much appreciated and, hopefully, with a more congenial programme next year the proceeds will be more substantial.