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 One
and all could see the gleaming smile on
John Galea’s face as the last hushed
notes of the final movement of his
rousing work Missa Ignes Charitatis
glided into nothingness within the aisle
of the magnificent St. Laurence’s
Collegiate Parish Church at Birgu. This
concert featuring the participation of
the Northwest Festival Choir, the
Amadeus Chamber Choir and the Chorus
Urbanus, soloists and orchestra,
was certainly the highlight of the first
edition of a week long festival of
choral music – Gloria 2007- Making
Music in Malta that included the
performances of Mendelssohn’s oratorios
Elijah and Saint Paul,
Vivaldi’s Gloria under the
direction of Dr. John Bethell and
Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass under
the direction of Brian Cefai.
The performance given by the three
choirs on Thursday, May 31st,
was one in the series of highly
appreciated concerts of sacred music,
ranging from the classic to the
contemporary repertoire. Notwithstanding
the logistical difficulties to
accommodate two hundred choristers and a
full orchestra, the three choirs proved
themselves as a closely knit and
disciplined group, responding admirably
by being stunningly punctual to the
director who was conducting his own
creation. Concentration was retained
intensively throughout, despite the warm
temperatures at Birgu!
The Northwest Festival Chorus, the
Amadeus Chamber Choir and our own Chorus
Urbanus are made up of extremely
sensitive and highly gifted singers, all
of whom contributed in the delicacy,
poignancy and the remarkable tonal blend
where the English North was meeting the
Mediterranean South. The finesse and
ease with which the technically
demanding composition came across spoke
volumes of the extremely polished
musicianship, notwithstanding the
limited time available for the general
rehearsal! The three choirs were indeed
a visual, but most of all an aural
delight to pamper the eye and the ear
within the sumptuous surroundings of
Birgu’s Collegiate Parish Church!
The Missa Ignes Charitatis
possesses real and intrinsic monumental
proportions, which came out all the more
with the en massed choirs. There
is all of Galea’s musicianship in it!
Expansive melodic phrases, rich
full-bodied choral agglomerations, a
rich orchestral palette with lighter
tones and colours, soaring crystalline
solo lines against choral backdrops for
the soprano Yvonne Galea, intense
lyricism for the tenor Declan Kelly and
sonorous contours for bass Noel Galea.
Added to this, the composer’s evident
command in the effective use of some
unusual chromatic harmonies, mystically
calm moods and the vast canvas of colour
and sound, helps to generate the
captivating effect of the overall
artistic product. The work’s title means
‘Fires of Love’ and it is truly an
ardent work coming straight from the
heart of the composer to the heart of
the audience through the heart of the
performer!
The deafening applause which rounded
off this work was a collective show of
appreciation from a packed audience who
was surely enjoying an intense rapport
with the performers and the music of
John Galea. At the end of the Mass
performance, John Galea asked Dr. John
Bethell and Brian Cefai, the choir
directors of the English and Maltese
choirs, to come on stage, share and
acknowledge the applause for their valid
contribution in the coaching of their
respective choirs.
A final word of thanks goes to Dr.
Simon Mercieca, the Executive Director
of the Mediterranean Institute at the
University of Malta, for his vision and
hard work in putting up this choral week
packed with daily concerts held
throughout various venues that included
St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, and the
Cospicua and Vittoriosa Collegiate
Parish Churches.
Special thanks go also to the sponsors
APS Bank, KKU and the participation of
the University of Malta in an EU
project, Interreg IIIC towards the
promotion of Culture, Competitiveness
and Creativity.
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