The Malta Study Center, established in 1973, preserves and makes accessible Malta's written culture through a collection of over 16,000 reels of microfilm and 1.5 million digital images.
Historical Context
In 1979, musicologist Professor Paolo Emilio Carapezza noted that Sicily had rediscovered its own music in Malta, due to the survival of many works there that had perished in Sicily.
Compositional Technique
The Venetian School, influenced by Adrian Willaert, developed an antiphonal compositional idiom that utilized the spacious architecture of St. Mark's Basilica by spatially arranging groups of singers and instrumentalists.
Recording & Production
This recording includes a newly commissioned choral work, 'Il-Presepju tal-Milied' by Minnesota composer Timothy Takach, with text by Maltese author Alfred Cachia, as no extant early Maltese music in the vernacular was found.
Historical Context
The island of Malta, under the rule of the Knights of St. John from 1530-1798, had two principal churches: the Cathedral Church at Mdina and the Conventual Church of St. John in Valletta.
Historical Context
Venetian companies dominated music printing and publishing between 1530 and 1560, producing more sheet music than the rest of Europe combined.
Composer Biography
Don Giuseppe Balzano (1616-1700) is the oldest-known Maltese composer, and is attributed with the piece 'Dormi, dormi, O gran bambino' on this recording.
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