Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci
This month two years ago a memorable event took place during the Notte Bianca festivities, which due to the natural joyous character of such a massive popular activity like this might have been slightly overshadowed and not granted the level of importance it deserved.
Karl Fiorini composed a work called 'Sinfonietta Pro Populo' based on the 'Innu Malti' (the Maltese Hymn) written by Manwel Dimech. He created a refined symphony which placed revolutionary aspirations within the modern parameters of music. The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, notwithstanding all the problems with which it was faced, emerged triumphant under the musical directorship of Brian Schembri. Yes, the director is my brother, but as he is well aware I am not the type to hold back from expressing any form of criticism. And truth be told, the dialectical relationship which we have is fantastic, and I greatly cherish the profound discussions which go on between us, even during those moments of passion and even of anger, moments which essentially provoke the richness of creativity.
The synergy between Brian and the orchestra, between Brian and Karl Fiorini, as well as Brian and Claire Ghigo and the choir (Chorus Urbanus, directed by John Galea), was excellent, especially if one is conscious of the difficult spaces in which each element was based. I'm sure this caused a huge headache to the director of the orchestra; the task to achieve an exact relationship between all the components which were out of direct vision and distanced from each other. The chorus was located on the roof of the Main Guard building, Claire Ghigo was standing opposite in the Palace, with her voice reverberating around the entire parliament. The orchestra was in front of the Main Guard and the dancers encircled the fountain of St. George's Square. Sigmund Mifsud, Chairman and CEO of the Philharmonic Orchestra and the instigator of this project, had to ensure that everything ran like clockwork. He had many problems to face yet the result was truly impressive.
Using strange parameters within which the orchestra does not usually operate, these individuals created a spectacle of excellence. Although the work was written for a popular festival I now understand the importance of hearing it within the contemplative intimacy of a theatre. It is integral that this happens so as to be able to appreciate the work on an artistic and intellectual level, without the glee of 70000 people. I would like to see and hear it within a different setting, and thus it will perfect itself. I would like to have the opportunity to hear the voice of Claire Ghigo radiating around the walls of the National Theatre: with the acoustics there she will surely give new tonality to the same work.
As almost always occurs in an activity which is radically new, this is what I presumed happened to Fiorini's work; the work was performed, people enjoyed themselves, salutations were cordially shared by all, and then everyone continued to see the festival and arrived home, with the performance forgotten, and off to work the next day. However, this work had many elements which place it on a historic level: I do not think that there are many musical pieces of a high level which concern the great sacrifices undergone by personalities who dedicated their lives to Malta and her history. There are a couple of examples which include Paul Nani's 'War Symphony' dedicated to the victims of the Second World War and the work by Carmelo Pace called 'I Martiri'.
However, I do not know how many serious operas and/or compositions exist which reflect events which memorialize the working class. Karl Fiorini managed to provoke this precise aspect. And this means that the Maltese nation is perpetuating the auto-reflection of its history, a vital element which recognizes and respects the nation as an equal amongst others. The Maltese composer went beyond: he used a modernist yet largely comprehensible language towards which one could develop an empathetic relationship. Meaning that without dismissing a modern language, he still proposed a 'classical' variation. And thus Fiorini is a participant in the international debate on the modernist evolution which music is experiencing together with other art forms. I myself have long been sustaining this and a previous article on the proposed monument to Dom Mintoff concerned precisely this. It is interesting that this orchestral work was performed a year after the premiere of John Cage's 4'33'' in the Manoel Theatre, also under the conductorship of Brian Schembri. An ultra-modernist and historic work which unfortunately as always did not manage to provoke any debate or discussion amongst the artistic echelons here in Malta. It is important to observe how the Maltese art scene is subtly changing, without anybody daring to notice.
The reference to Dimech was a brilliant idea, even a courageous one. The use the words written by this revolutionary patriot in his work 'L'Innu Malti' should have provoked a profound discussion on the role of art within our political and social context. In our discussion, Fiorini explained that "From when I was an adolescent, when I was exposed to the personality of Manwel Dimech, I felt the desire to put some of his writings to music. Then I was 15 years old, I had already begun to compose but I did not yet have the perception, the maturity to evoke through music the emotions which the author/poet was capable of conveying with his pen. The emotions which emanated were purely musical and related to, also restricted, to the instrument which I used to play myself and its repertory; the piano." Throughout our discussion we continued to debate on the relationship between the works of Dimech, his spirit and the modern musical idiom. Karl continued to elaborate that "...in the work 'Sinfonietta Pro Populo' I used two poems by Dimech, 'Sliem Ghalik, O Malta Taghna!' (Peace to you, O Malta!) and 'L'Innu Malti'. From the first instance the words convey a message of fervent patriotism, but as I continued to enter the work I began to feel that his message still holds true today and not only to Dimech's time. I returned to the years when I had read on his life, on his battle against the Church and also against the pro-colonial intelligentsia of his age and then I understood that his real struggle was against the ignorance and slavery of the Maltese, for it to remain a mindless nation which would swallow all that said by the establishment, which was to them the authority. I felt the fury from my adolescence rise once again against the same institutions which since Dimech's time have only changed their attire, remaining pseudo-intellectual and pseudo-socialist. In this manner I reinterpreted Dimech's work. I did not use the entire 'Innu Malti', I omitted two stanzas which I felt were not as powerful as the other four, albeit their strength. Every stanza was split into two retaining the same refrain and the same words, this is what I tried to give prominence to". This discussion between Fiorini and myself ensued. It is essential that these categories and elements of art are debated publicly.
A week after the premiere of this work, Mark Montebello organized an event which commemorated the stoning of Manwel Dimech in Qormi. This commemoration also included the launch of a book which included essays written by different scholars and academics which place Dimech within an important framework of analytic study. On 26 October 2013, at the University of Malta Valletta Campus, the Department of Maltese organized a historical conference dedicated to the author Juann Mamo, a Dimechian revolutionary. Things are changing locally. It is a shame that the descendants of these heroic individuals were not invited. I do apologise if I am mistaken.
Dimech's 'Innu Malti' was arguably the first text which reflected a political ideology and radical change in thought. Here I would like to thank Fr Mark Montebello for giving me important information on the writings of Manwel Dimech. The 'Innu Malti' in its original form appears in the following sources; 'Il-Bandiera tal-Maltin', 9 September 1899, 2ab; 13 September 1902, 2c-3a; 9 September 1905, 2b; 19 August 1911, 3cb; 'In Hoc Signo Militamus', 20 April 1904, 1ab; 'L-Istandard tal-Melitin', 23 April 1904; 1c-2a; 'Il-Ħabib Malti', 1908, 21-22.
According to Fr Montebello, "When Dimech published the hymn for the first time, in 'Il-Bandiera tal-Maltin' of 9 September 1899, he published a short article before it on the Marseillaise, the hymn of the French Revolution written by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792, and wrote (on 4 July 1903, 2c) that it transformed people "from lambs into lions". Therefore, Dimech realized that he should base his own hymn on that of the French. Dimech wrote the hymn at a time when Malta did not have its own national anthem. A while later, since this hymn did not catch on, Dimech changed some of the lyrics and announced it as the 'Hymn of the Maltese Guild' (or as it is better known, 'The Guild of the Enlightened' - 'Ix-Xirka tal-Imdawlin').
Points of reflection
I will now return to the orchestral work. I wanted the Finale of the performance to convey and express the turbulences which were solved and those which weren't. I wanted the Finale to not only express the epic pathos but to reflect, with a certain dissonance, the Dimechian tensions which we are still experiencing today. It seems that the very ending of the work minimized some of the tensions which exist within the same hymn. In other words, I wanted the tensions inherent within the composition to remain paradoxical until the end.
It is also important that a multidisciplinary art event like this would have better artistic coordination. Also important is that when essential activities of this kind are created, the director, the choir, the singer/s, the stage organization need to be technologically well-equipped for purposes of communication.
The children/dancers were very charming and talented but they should not have been given such a role which demands experience and perfect artistic coordination.
There is need for an activity such as this to be invested with national importance. It is not every day that a composer, who is making a name for Malta overseas, would create a modern composition based on a historic and profound theme and imbued with a complexity akin to that of Dimech. This is even more fundamental when a project includes an international personality such as Brian Schembri and the talent of Claire Ghigo.
Karl Fiorini, who organized the 9th edition of the International Spring Orchestra Festival earlier this month, will be participating, as will Brian Schembri, in the Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale which will open on 13 November of this year.
Article edited and translated by Nikki Petroni