Azopardi requiem to be played at revival concert

A requiem written over 200 years ago by Maltese composer Francesco Azopardi will be played for the first time in two centuries at St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta today at 7 p.m.

The requiem, a musical setting for a Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead, in this case called Messa de morti a quattro voci was composed by Azopardi in 1792 to mark the death of Leopoldus II, Holy Emperor of Austria.

The revival concert will be performed by the Collegium Musicum, made up of the musicians and singers at St John's.

Organised by the National Liturgical Commission and the Metropolitan Chapter, the concert will mark the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium by Pope Paul VI, which highlighted the need for liturgical renewal.

The requiem had been suggested for this concert by Dion Buhagiar, whose academic theses were based on the music of Azopardi.

Dr Buhagiar is Maestro di Cappella for the Metropolitan Chapter, a post that in his time was held also by Azopardi.

The original score of the requiem, which is conserved at the Mdina Cathedral Archives, was painstakingly edited into modern notation by Mary Ann Cauchi, a student following the music studies programme at the Mediterranean Institute of the University of Malta. Ms Cauchi spent one and a half years on this editing task.

"Editing music is reproducing the original notation into its modern equivalent and score format, leaving it as close as possible to the original source.

"The requiem signifies the triumph of life over death. The ornamentation and polyphonic use of the choir by Azopardi indicates what an avant garde artist he was", she added.

The Collegium Musicum will be under the baton of its founder Dr Buhagiar. Soprano Claire Caruana, mezzo-soprano Claire Massa, tenor Franz Mangion and bass Albert Buttigieg will be taking part.

Azopardi was born in 1748 in Rabat. In 1763, he left for Naples to study at the Conservatory of Sant Onofrio. Later, in Naples, he worked as a teacher and composer.

On his return to Malta in 1774 he was appointed organist at the Mdina Cathedral.

His duties included composing liturgical works and conducting the services at the cathedral. He was appointed Maestro di Cappella in 1787.

Azopardi's works include other sacred works such as psalms, antiphons, hymns, graduals, sequences, Masses, a Te Deum and an oratorio La passione de Cristo.

He also composed vocal and instrumental secular works and a treatise on the art of composition Il musico prattico, later translated into French.

Azopardi died in 1809 and was buried in the Mdina Cathedral.