The oratorio Dun Gorg! (music by Charles Camilleri and lyrics by Oliver Friggieri) will be performed at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, on Friday at 8.30pm, and on Sunday at 8pm.

The orchestra and choir of Collegium Musicum will be under the direction of Mro Dr Dion Buhagiar and Mario Bisazza will lead the orchestra. Sopranos Claire Massa and Claire Caruana and tenor Charles Vella Zarb will sing the leading roles and Philip Farrugia Randon the narrator.

The oratorio is in three parts, each narrating and interpreting the major points in San Gorg Preca’s life, from early youth to final glory: the initial uncertainty and solitude, the eventual crisis he went through due to misunderstanding, and the ultimate triumph through the sound consolidation of his Society and the nationwide recognition he immediately received. The whole work is intended to express what many Maltese people feel, and both the poetic text and the musical score are clear and easy to follow.

A souvenir booklet in Maltese and an English translation will be given to the audience prior to the performance. It includes the full text of Oliver Friggieri’s poem and other information related to the occasion.

Charles Camilleri said he composed this work as a tribute to a saintly man he greatly admired and this work is very close to his heart. He thinks it will interpret what so many people feel.

The music at times has a local, Mediterranean flavour, whereas the poem integrates aspects and sentiments typical of San Gorg Preca, as it expresses different moods and moves on towards a finale of consensus and joy.

The oratorio is being presented by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to mark both the canonisation of Dun Gorg Preca and the first centenary of the foundation of his society of Christian Doctrine (MUSEUM) and to show appreciation to an organisation that has contributed so much and for so long to Maltese society.