Valletta is as an outstandingly unique city with its glorious baroque architectures, magnificent palaces and quaint side streets. Music is central to the city, not least because of its theatres that have become a second home to many of today’s artists. For composer Alexander Vella Gregory, Valletta stands as one of his most creative starting points leading to what can be regarded as some of Malta’s most touching contemporary music.
The city is dotted with just over 20 churches, some of them prominent and architecturally domineering, others perhaps slightly hidden. It is these churches that served as Vella Gregory’s ongoing inspiration for his piano cycle titled Knejjes.
Vella Gregory’s Knejjes IV for solo piano and Mill-Qamar sal-Qabar, a song cycle for soprano and piano, premiered recently. Knejjes IV is the fourth and final instalment of a cycle in which each of the six pieces can easily work as individual numbers since they shed light on a particular characteristic of a church.
Performed in the apt setting of St Augustine’s church, the composer/pianist opened the programme with a bold Etude based on the Church of the Circumcision of the Lord.
Although the rapid technical work and big pounding chords were drowned in the booming acoustic, the idea of the piece was clearly conveyed.
Interestingly, Knejjes IV pays homage to a handful of baroque musical forms underpinning some important architectural characteristics of the churches.
The second piece, Chaconne, focused on the idea of space in the church of St Catherine of Alexandra and, musically, this was immediately noticeable with its tranquil opening of chords that resonated beautifully.
A hugely contrasting march, Innu Marċ followed and emphasised the cacophony of a Maltese band during a typical feast.
The spirit was captured tremendously well with its pervasive use of the bass register reflecting brassy sounds together with the buoyant rhythms of festive fun that many audience members surely related to.
This exploitation of bass registers was also prominent in Lament, a reflective piece that hauntingly evokes the Chapel of Bones. Here, Vella Gregory indulges in the exploration of colour and atmosphere.
Vella Gregory possesses an insightful capacity to express his loyal attachment to Malta through his music
A dark aura surrounds this piece and some pauses in the music proved even more effective. Conceptually and musically, Lament worked wonders and showed the capacity of the composer to create a powerful setting through the use of sonorous chords.
Perhaps the most soothing of the set, Innu, echoes the polyphonic textures met in early music and provides a more solemn mood in its tribute to the church of Our Lady of Victories.
Saving the best for last, it comes as no surprise that the set ends with the inspiration of the magnificent St John’s Co-Cathedral. We are immediately thrown into the grandeur that this church represents with the sounds of big bass chords. The piece, titled Spes (Hope), is built on a toccata and fugue that moves with drama and agitation and increases towards a triumphant ending.
The second half of the programme saw Vella Gregory and soprano Miriam Cauchi in what promised to be a very powerful collaboration. Mill-Qamar sal-Qabar is a song cycle of eight songs based on different Maltese literary texts from the Arab Period till World War 2.
It is the idea of Maltese identity and its development that Vella Gregory chooses to focus on here. The cycle contains much depth in its correlation to the text and shows signs of a more cultivated musical style that Vella Gregory embarks on. With her impressively well-articulated diction and rich sounding voice, Cauchi delivered the opening song, It-Talba ta’ Majmuna, with a captivating and impassioned sense of musicality.
Her ability to immerse herself holistically in each song was exceptional and she also had a supportive and well-written piano part to enhance this. Mejju Ġie bil-Ward u Żahar stood out in its contrasting moods of penchant harmonies and whimsical moments.
The attention to detail in the musical content was apparent in the manner in which certain words or phrases were coloured. The sixth song, Għanijiet, was the climatic number of the entire cycle, with its big pounding chords and rippling accompaniment heard against soaring vocal lines that were nothing short of overwhelming.
The cycle comes to a close on a more reflective note with a rendition of Manwel Dimech’s X’Għandu Jaħseb Kulħadd. The piano accompaniment was integral to the contextual understanding of the poems and very often had the last say.
Vella Gregory possesses an insightful capacity to express his loyal attachment to Malta through his music, reinvigorating a strong sense of cultural awareness in all of us. We look forward to hearing more of his works.