The Eight Languages of the Knights of Malta was the appropriate title for one of the concerts at this year’s Malta International Organ Festival.
The recital was given by the Sicilian organist, Diego Cannizzaro, a specialist in interpretation on historic organs, on the restored organ of the oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta.
The programme was chosen to present music from composers representing the eight langues of the Knights of St John.
The first piece chosen was Tiento by the Aragonian composer Bernardo Clavijo del Castillo (c1549-c1626). The tiento is a form of fantasia (fantasy) or ricercare originating in Spain during the 15th century.
For the following work, a setting of a lute song from the English composer John Dowland, Come Again Sweet Love, was performed.
This version for the organ was discovered in a manuscript found in Milan. For the second part, the utilisation of the flute stop on the organ produced a beautiful vocal effect to the piece.
Representing Provence was a pastoral piece from the Competé de Nice: Sortie des Conscrits de St Martin. The work imitated the sound of the Provincial bagpipes; a melody played over a single drone note. This work utilised a unique feature of this organ, that of a nightingale register (pipes which are partially submerged in a small pool of water, creating the effect of bird song when wind is admitted).
The utilisation of the flute stop on the organ produced a beautiful vocal effect to the piece
From Castile, Cannizzaro played two pieces by Antonió de Cabezón, D’ou vient cela and Galliarda di Milanese.
A charming piece, Toccata sur le Coucou by Louis-Claude Daquin, was the piece chosen to represent the French langue. As the title suggests, the piece imitated the sound of the cuckoo.
The German langue was represented by Johann Speth. The piece performed was the Toccata Prima from Ars Magna Consoni et Dissoni.
The air La Castlemore by Claude Balbastre represented the langue of Auvergne. La Castlemore is a perfect example of the pastoral style that was so fashionable in Paris in the 18th century. Here again, Cannizzaro utilised the nightingale register to great effect.
Representing the Italian was a work, Ballo della Battaglia, by Bernardo Storace. A lively dance tune with the theme repeated in different voices of the instrument.
For the final touch, as an encore, Cannizzaro performed the Pastoral from the First Sonata in G by the Maltese 18th-century composer Francesco Azopardi. This piece, based on a traditional Maltese melody, was a fitting end to a superb recital.
The oratory was the perfect setting for this concert of baroque music performed in beautiful baroque surroundings. With his intimate knowledge of these early organs, Diego Cannizzaro was the perfect performer for these works. It also gave the public a chance to hear this superb organ, rarely played, in its full splendour.
The concert was the seventh in the festival whose main sponsor was the Lions Club of Sliema. The series was given in aid of the Fondazzjoni Nazaret.