Any reference to St Paul rings out with a particular echo in Maltese ears. No surprise given the dramatic shipwreck in which the feisty saint was caught on his way to be tried and eventually executed in Rome and how a violent storm soon led to the island's wholesale conversion to Christianity. Even in these secular times, this brief story told in the Acts of the Apostles makes fascinating reading.
Of course if you want to see the fervour the national saint evokes in Malta, look no further than the way February 10 is celebrated in the heart of the baroque capital with inimitable Valletta flamboyance. After all, the gilded wooden statue carved by Melchiore Gafà is housed in the church dedicated to St Paul's Shipwreck (aptly standing in St Paul's Street). Given World Heritage status five years ago, it's worth elbowing your way to the front to catch a close look of the splendid statue whose face and body language capture a mesh of emotions beneath a strong personality. For each masterly chisel stroke ingrains the crosscurrents between heroism and humanity, egocentricity and selflessness. Even if religious devotion is just a spectacle for you, this sculpted work of genius spells out the ritual need to believe in something larger than life.
But it's the much more modern Birkirkara church dedicated to St Theresa that's providing the venue for the upcoming performance of Charles Camilleri's Pawlu ta' Malta, the oratory composed in 1985; Oliver Friggieri penned the lyrics. Unfortunately, a variety of reasons prevented both St Paul's Shipwreck Church and St John's co-Cathedral from fitting the bill. For the record Pawlu ta' Malta is the first oratory to be written in Maltese and was also aired on the Vatican Radio.
Performing Camilleri's Pawlu ta' Malta is no mere coincidence because the Catholic Church has decided to dedicate 2008 to
St Paul. Yet it was Mro Dion Buhagiar who took the initiative and got the ball rolling. "As soon as the Catholic Church announced that she was dedicating 2008 to 'the Apostle of the gentiles or of all people'," Mro Buhagiar confirms, "I wrote to the Cathedral Chapter letting them know that as Maestro di Cappella of both Maltese Cathedrals, I was planning that Collegium Musicum, the resident choir of the said cathedrals, should set an example and celebrate this important event by performing this unique work written by a Maltese composer." Besides, Mro Camilleri has long been regarded as the national composer.
Rehearsals kicked off back-to-back with the choir's Christmas busy schedule and also in parallel with a Mozart and Haydn concert which will soon be performed exclusively for a German audience at St John's.
But these particular choristers seem to thrive on hard work, for anyone who hears them sing is immediately struck by their enthusiasm. A sneak peek into the countdown preparations leaves little doubt that they are enjoying the Oratorio. "The soloists, soprano Claire Caruana, tenor Frans Mangion and baritone Alfred Camilleri are also well prepared and will be handling the rhythmic challenges very effectively. One of the main features of the work is the typical Charles Camilleri orchestration which includes strings, brass, woodwind and different percussion instruments."
It's actually a third time round for Collegium Musicum performing Pawlu ta' Malta.
It was performed at the Mdina Cathedral with the composer conducting the first performance while the second was under Mro Buhagiar's baton. The latter will conduct choir and orchestra once more on Friday. The leader of the orchestra is Mario Bisazza while Philip Farrugia Randon will narrate the unfolding of the dramatic events.
What is the audience in for? "Camilleri's music in general is set in a 20th century idiom which means that it aspires to exploit the notions of harmony, melody and rhythm in a completely different, but not necessarily in a completely original, way," Mro Buhagiar states in his idiosyncratic soft tones.
"For example, the idea of the atomisation of rhythm had already been divulged by the Clangfarbenmelodie of Berg, Webern and later by Eliot Carter and others."
"Basically, the music of Charles Camilleri is 'improvisatory' but more disciplined as one tries to find some technical traits that are characteristic of the 20th century. For instance, his Missa Mundi (based on Fr Peter's comments on Teilhard de Chardin's 'vision') is a recreation in sound of the author's ideas that inspire a musical journey from the complexities of atonality to the final simplicity of the final chord of C major (although the acoustical properties of such a chord are not simple at all - only the way it sounds). On the other hand, the Oratorio Pawlu ta' Malta is based on a different plan altogether. It's 'tonal' although the harmonic plan is still typical of the 'freedom' adopted by Camilleri and not tempered by the aesthetics of the 'common practice period'... that's Bach. In the Oratorio, Camilleri uses the music of the people - the folk idiom. This idea permeates the whole - both the choral and solo sections."
The folk idiom is therefore highly apt to celebrate the coming of the Apostle of all people. Christianity certainly took Malta by storm. Let's hope we'll be spared stormy weather on Friday. Last week's destructive gale winds were more than enough.
• The performance, under the patronage of the Prime Minister, begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are available from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the MTA, in Valletta.
Of course if you want to see the fervour the national saint evokes in Malta, look no further than the way February 10 is celebrated in the heart of the baroque capital with inimitable Valletta flamboyance. After all, the gilded wooden statue carved by Melchiore Gafà is housed in the church dedicated to St Paul's Shipwreck (aptly standing in St Paul's Street). Given World Heritage status five years ago, it's worth elbowing your way to the front to catch a close look of the splendid statue whose face and body language capture a mesh of emotions beneath a strong personality. For each masterly chisel stroke ingrains the crosscurrents between heroism and humanity, egocentricity and selflessness. Even if religious devotion is just a spectacle for you, this sculpted work of genius spells out the ritual need to believe in something larger than life.
But it's the much more modern Birkirkara church dedicated to St Theresa that's providing the venue for the upcoming performance of Charles Camilleri's Pawlu ta' Malta, the oratory composed in 1985; Oliver Friggieri penned the lyrics. Unfortunately, a variety of reasons prevented both St Paul's Shipwreck Church and St John's co-Cathedral from fitting the bill. For the record Pawlu ta' Malta is the first oratory to be written in Maltese and was also aired on the Vatican Radio.
Performing Camilleri's Pawlu ta' Malta is no mere coincidence because the Catholic Church has decided to dedicate 2008 to
St Paul. Yet it was Mro Dion Buhagiar who took the initiative and got the ball rolling. "As soon as the Catholic Church announced that she was dedicating 2008 to 'the Apostle of the gentiles or of all people'," Mro Buhagiar confirms, "I wrote to the Cathedral Chapter letting them know that as Maestro di Cappella of both Maltese Cathedrals, I was planning that Collegium Musicum, the resident choir of the said cathedrals, should set an example and celebrate this important event by performing this unique work written by a Maltese composer." Besides, Mro Camilleri has long been regarded as the national composer.
Rehearsals kicked off back-to-back with the choir's Christmas busy schedule and also in parallel with a Mozart and Haydn concert which will soon be performed exclusively for a German audience at St John's.
But these particular choristers seem to thrive on hard work, for anyone who hears them sing is immediately struck by their enthusiasm. A sneak peek into the countdown preparations leaves little doubt that they are enjoying the Oratorio. "The soloists, soprano Claire Caruana, tenor Frans Mangion and baritone Alfred Camilleri are also well prepared and will be handling the rhythmic challenges very effectively. One of the main features of the work is the typical Charles Camilleri orchestration which includes strings, brass, woodwind and different percussion instruments."
It's actually a third time round for Collegium Musicum performing Pawlu ta' Malta.
It was performed at the Mdina Cathedral with the composer conducting the first performance while the second was under Mro Buhagiar's baton. The latter will conduct choir and orchestra once more on Friday. The leader of the orchestra is Mario Bisazza while Philip Farrugia Randon will narrate the unfolding of the dramatic events.
What is the audience in for? "Camilleri's music in general is set in a 20th century idiom which means that it aspires to exploit the notions of harmony, melody and rhythm in a completely different, but not necessarily in a completely original, way," Mro Buhagiar states in his idiosyncratic soft tones.
"For example, the idea of the atomisation of rhythm had already been divulged by the Clangfarbenmelodie of Berg, Webern and later by Eliot Carter and others."
"Basically, the music of Charles Camilleri is 'improvisatory' but more disciplined as one tries to find some technical traits that are characteristic of the 20th century. For instance, his Missa Mundi (based on Fr Peter's comments on Teilhard de Chardin's 'vision') is a recreation in sound of the author's ideas that inspire a musical journey from the complexities of atonality to the final simplicity of the final chord of C major (although the acoustical properties of such a chord are not simple at all - only the way it sounds). On the other hand, the Oratorio Pawlu ta' Malta is based on a different plan altogether. It's 'tonal' although the harmonic plan is still typical of the 'freedom' adopted by Camilleri and not tempered by the aesthetics of the 'common practice period'... that's Bach. In the Oratorio, Camilleri uses the music of the people - the folk idiom. This idea permeates the whole - both the choral and solo sections."
The folk idiom is therefore highly apt to celebrate the coming of the Apostle of all people. Christianity certainly took Malta by storm. Let's hope we'll be spared stormy weather on Friday. Last week's destructive gale winds were more than enough.
• The performance, under the patronage of the Prime Minister, begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are available from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the MTA, in Valletta.