The works of six young composers will be performed at the Manoel Theatre next Friday. They speak to Rachel Agius about snobbery, inspiration and silence.
Whoever said orchestral music is becoming archaic and dated has obviously never had a taste of the local composition scene. Last year’s ‘Young Composers’ Contest’, held by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, gave composers under the age of 40 the opportunity to compete for a chance to have the MPO perform their creations.
This ensures that the auditory reward for the audience on Friday is twofold; listening to the MPO perform and doing so to the work of some of the most promising young talent our island has to offer.
Seven pieces were chosen, all save one by Maltese composers, as part of the MPO’s ‘Concert Series at the Manoel Theatre’. The concert will be conducted by Andre Paul Huber and Michelle Castelletti, who have had conducting experience and success both locally and abroad.
Marco Fernandez hopes that his piece, Journey for Orchestra, will serve to transport the listener to the new and exciting, an opportunity to escape everyday life for a brief moment. He willingly admits to agreeing with the clichéd saying that ‘inspiration is everywhere’.
“In most instances I get inspiration from cultural heritage. For example, during my residency as a composer in Sardinia I found interesting the history of the island as well as the character of the islanders, therefore I took inspiration from both ideas to write the piece,” he says, explaining the Mediterranean origins for his piece.
But it is not only the natural world that inspires Fernandez - “I am also constantly in touch with many different techniques of composition and composers such as Ligetti, Stravinsky, and John Adams.
“I consider myself a composer who looks for inspiration from any style of music, ideology and culture that surrounds us.”
Although Veronique Vella currently lives and lectures in Edinburgh, Scotland, the unique Maltese soundscape still finds its way into her work. She will be performing the piano solo in her work Ritratti, a four-movement piece during the concert.
Vella also comments on the local situation when it comes to the awareness and appreciation of orchestral music: “I don’t think you have to be an upper middle-class snob aged at least 75 to appreciate orchestral music.
“In many European countries, orchestral concerts are well-attended by both young and old.
“However, this is probably because music forms an important part of the educational curriculum in many of these countries. I grew up listening to bands like Nirvana, REM and Rage Against the Machine but I was also exposed to classical music and jazz thanks to my father.
Unfortunately, I don’t ever remember listening to orchestral music at school. In fact, I think the way music is taught at school (or in many cases not taught) has a lot to answer for.”
His involvement in sacred music is evident in Paul Portelli’s piece Kyrie Eleison. “I got in touch with music thanks to my uncle, the late Fr Michael D’Amato, who was a composer of sacred music and a renowned organ restorer.
“His energy and love for music were then passed on to me,” Portelli explains. The audience can expect a feeling of calm from this work: “I think that my piece is going to leave a positive effect on people as it is mainly meditational and is based on a traditional idiom.”
His strongest source of inspiration? Silence. “Be it an old chapel or a gothic church or even a quiet cemetery; all these are ideal places where I find spiritual fulfillment and inspiration.”
Whispering Winds is Steven Joseph Psaila’s contribution to the evening. “It is a composition based on emotion composed with a specific scene in mind involving a sunset contrasting a silhouette view of the highlands being caressed by a calm, soothing but eerie wind,” he explains.
He too finds inspiration in nature: “I remember upon visiting the Scottish Highlands in 1997, I witnessed the sun setting, creating a very beautiful orange colour contrasting the black silhouette highlands, accompanied by the soft wind.
This scene was so breathtaking, something I had never really seen before, at least not on such an immense extent.”
Alistair Attard’s piece Impressions is open to the perception of the listener.
“I hope the interpreter becomes engaged in my music on a personal level and makes this musical journey his own; my music lives in the mind, heart and soul of the interpreter,” Attard says.
He also has a possible explanation as to why most audiences tend to be older: “Apart from taste and due to its complexity, orchestral music requires much more attention than popular music does. Thus, one of the reasons may be that mature audiences have more time and patience to listen. Hence, they are capable of achieving higher levels of understanding and pleasure”.
At 21, Mauro Farrugia is the youngest composer contributing his work G.a.i.a.
“The theme of G.a.i.a. as the mythological and living nature of the earth itself are what inspired this Pensiero Sinfonico and thus I created my reflections paralleled into a musical expression,” he says, explaining the origins of the name and the theme of the piece.
Farrugia believes that age is not as much an important factor as personality and background when it comes to the appreciation of orchestral music: “I find the people that tend to enjoy the orchestral music, both the popular works in the genre and the more intellectual ones, are those who have strongly empathic characters.
“Obviously it is enjoyed best by those who have been cultured and brought up in a household where music is held in high regard.”
The concert this Friday starts at 7.30 p.m.
To book, call 2124 6389 or e-mail bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt.
Tickets are priced at €30, €20 and €10. Students and senior citizens are entitled to a 50 per cent reduction on the €20 and €10 tickets.
Families may opt for a €20 ticket valid for two adults and up to two children aged between six and 12.
The MPO is also offering special discounts on the purchase of block tickets for the two remaining events in its concert series.