The rich collection of 17th century Baroque music housed at the Cathedral Archive, in Mdina has hit America with the force of a massive hurricane, with raving press revues hailing the exquisite beauty and spirituality of the music that had for centuries languished in the musty cellars until their revival in the mid-1970s.

Uniting virtuoso vocal artistry with scholarly research, Jordan Smarek, artistic director of the prestigious Rose Ensemble of the USA, visited Malta on the initiative of Mgr Canon John Azzopardi, affectionately known as Dun Ġwann, and was overwhelmed by the extent of 17th and 18th century baroque music that emanated from the Mdina Cathedral.

The Rose Ensemble of the USA is a select musical group that draws upon centuries of vocal music to create imaginative, inspiring programmes connecting audiences to human culture and spirituality from around the world. This Christmas, the Rose Ensemble focused on Malta’s 17th century Baroque music that has immediately captivated American audiences.

Bob Hubbard, in a special review to the Pioneer Press, refers to the Maltese archipelago as “not only a historical hotbed that has been an outpost of many an empire but that its cathedrals nurtured a musical hybrid entirely Malta’s own”.

He points out that our Baroque music was influenced by nearby Italy but also bearing elements from Spain and the Moors. He concluded his critical positive review exhorting his readers to attend the evening concert held last week at the Nativity Cathedral entitled ‘Christmas in Baroque Malta’, which was widely diffused in the American media and the European Broadcasting Union.

The concert was described as becoming “increasingly adventurous, stimulating both spiritually and intellectually”.

In their euphoric acclaim, some reviews rated the Maltese music at the Mdina Cathedral Archives as being akin to the most celebrated composers of Baroque music of the 17th century.