Saviour Farrugia and Noel Camilleri
The sixth edition of the Rabat Agape Festival will commence on 25 January and will reach its climax with two concerts featuring world premiere works by Maltese composer Christopher Muscat and world renowned Italian composer, Mons. Marco Frisina. These compositions were commissioned by the Fondazzjoni Paulus which is based in Rabat Malta, and is now in its seventh year of existence.
The first concert will take place on 9 February at St Paul's parish church in Rabat while the second one is scheduled for 11 February at St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta.
This year's festival also has an international dimension, since these two concerts are part of the cultural programme of the Maltese Presidency of the European Council and are partly sponsored by Malta's Presidency of the Council of the EU and the Arts Council. Both concerts will feature the participation of the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Mons. Marco Frisina and the Jubilate Deo choir, Maestro Christopher Muscat as director.
Cantata - L-X ta' Frar 1928
Lyrics Dun Karm Psaila
Music Christopher Muscat
This composition as the title shows is based on a poem by the national poet Dun Karm Psaila. Mro Muscat composed the work in three movements, as described in his artistic brief hereunder.
The biblical account of the shipwreck of St Paul in Malta and the conversion of its inhabitants to the Catholic faith was so dear to Dun Karm Psaila's heart that, between 1915 and 1945, he wrote no fewer than 20 poems on this subject. The poems, merely bearing the year of writing for a title as they have been published collectively (in an anthology edited by Professor Oliver Friggieri, published by Klabb Kotba Maltin and Karmen Mikallef Buħaġar, 1980) under X ta' Frar (10th February being the commemoration day of St Paul's Shipwreck), were written in various styles and forms - ranging from short sonnets to more elaborate and complex forms, as is the case of the 1928 poem that was set to music by Christopher Muscat.
The composer divided the poem into three distinct but clearly linked movements. The first, sub-titled It-Tempesta (The Tempest) is not a chronological account of the proceedings of that stormy night. On the contrary, it gives a totally different but nonetheless all-too graphic perspective of the well-known story by focusing on the various elements (strong winds, dark skies, rough seas ...), all in the poet's distinguishable metaphorical language. The movement is characterised by a strong, irregular meter and continuously shifting tonal centres. In a rare "aside" moment, while the orchestra continues to provide subtle hints of turbulence in the background, a narrator unfolds how all this is necessary and according to the plan of a "kind Father". When the storm resumes, the action immediately takes us on the galley and presents us with the very realistic prospect that everyone is going to drown and perish.
The second movement, Il-Ħelsien (The Rescue), presents the crucial moment in which St Paul (represented by a solo tenor) addresses the sailors and informs them that nobody will be lost as it is necessary for them to land on a "blessed island". Consciously taking the actual moment of the shipwreck as a given, Dun Karm fast forwards the action and urges the local inhabitants to set on a rescue operation (represented by underlying military rhythms in the orchestra) as Paul is here "to embrace you with a promise of never abandoning you".
This very promise, Il-Wegħda is the sub-title of the ensuing third and final movement of this cantata in which Dun Karm makes a spiritual address to his country. The orchestral and choral writing consciously moves towards a more conservative and tonal style in order to give ample space to the message of the text to get through while building up towards a rousing finale. Dissonant chords on the brass section, as if to give a brief reminder of the initial tense circumstances of this account, immediately give way to a very positive and bright ending.
'Fino ai Confini della Terra' - Oratorio
Lyrics - Chapters 27 and 28 of the Acts of the Apostles
Music - Mons. Marco Frisina
For Orchestra, Baritone, Narrator and Choir
The oratorio is based mainly on chapters 27 and 28 of the Acts of the Apostles, which deal with St Paul's shipwreck on the island of Malta.
Its entire length is of about an hour. The musical language adopted combines tradition and modernity. The use of Gregorian chant in some moments of the oratorio links it up - emphatically - with the Church's musical tradition and, at the same time, shows the very significant role of music as a communication tool of the Gospel.
Structure
The oratorio is divided in seven parts and dwells on the events leading to St Paul's coming to Malta, which marks the island's first evangelization. An event - this - which reflects in an exceptional way the strength of the Gospel and the power of Divine Providence, which transforms a disastrous and negative event, as a shipwreck, in an opportunity of grace and salvation.
The Characters
- Luke (Speaker): He is the author of the Acts of the Apostles, the text which leads us to the biblical account of the events which the music brings out emphatically. This character will be interpreted by Fr Noel Camilleri D'Amato.
- Paul (Baritone): he is the main character of the Oratorio, he who with his own testimony has brought faith to the island of Malta. Some of the passages drawn from the Acts of the Apostles and of the Psalter are sung. This character is going to be interpreted by Baritone Louis Andrew Cassar
- The Chorus: it represents Malta's inhabitants and, alongside them, God's people and is going to be interpreted by the Jubilate Deo of Naxxar trained by their choirmaster Christopher Muscat. The chorus sings passages drawn from the Acts of the Apostles and the Psalter.
Entrance to the 9 February concert at St Paul's parish church in Rabat is by invite only. For the 11 February concert at St John's Co-Cathedral visit www.fondazzjonipaulus.org for more information and entrance tickets.
This event would not have been possible without the assistance of various organisations, namely APS Bank, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union-Malta 2017, Malta Arts Council, MPM Investments, the Collegiate Chapter of St Paul's parish church in Rabat and St John's Co-Cathedral Chapter and the Cathedral Foundation.
These two concerts form part of the Rabat Agape Festival 2017 - an annual festival of Christian Arts and Culture organised by Fondazzjoni Paulus betweeen 25 January and 11 February. Acknowledgments: Christopher Muscat and Mgr Marco Frisina for providing their artistic notes.
For a full programme of activities visit wwe.fondazzjonipaulus.org