Many see Carnival as frivolous, but for Maltese composer Ruben Zahra it is an opportunity to revive the music for the Parata dance. This is a Maltese sword dance commemorating the victory of the Knights over the Ottoman Turks.

The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts has commissioned composer Ruben Zahra to revise the music that was recently discovered in a collection of transcriptions entitled “Maltese Melodies; or National airs and dances, usually performed by the Maltese Musicians at their Carnival and other Festivals”.

Edward Jones, the harp master and bard to the Prince of Wales, published this anthology in 1807. Steve Borg identified these melodies in 1999 at Kings College University in London and made them public in 2000.

The 10th melody from this collection is entitled “A Military Dance” and the score is accompanied by a postscript: “At some Festivals, it is usual to see groups of Maltese dressed in white, decorated with ribbons, and each of them armed with a sword and small shield: these men to the sound of the Pyrric Dance, act a kind of mock battle...”

Ruben Zahra said: “It is quite evident that the annotation refers to the Parata. We have an indication of the music that accompanied the dance in the early 19th century or maybe even earlier. Ivo Muscat Azzopardi gives a detailed account of the choreography in a short article that appeared in the literary journal Il-Malti in 1952.”

Vince Zahra, who is creating the dance routine of the Parata for the Hamrun Scouts, is adapting the same choreography mentioned in this article.

“The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts is actively increasing the profile of traditional music and dance and its status as part of our history and culture. Folk music is finding its place again in the life of the Maltese people,” said Dr Paul V. Mifsud, Executive Director of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.

“For this reason, it is presenting an authentic piece of intangible heritage restored and revised for the contemporary audience: the Maltese sword dance Il-Parata,” concluded

Dr Mifsud.

Ruben Zahra’s arrangement of Il-Parata is set for viola, accordion, guitar, tuba, tanbur and zafzafa.

The Hamrun Scouts will perform Il-Parata at Freedom Square during the Carnival Show this afternoon at 2.30pm.

Enclosure tickets for today’s show is Lm3.50.