Baroque Connections

An interesting seminar entitled 'Baroque Connections' was held at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta recently as a fitting introduction to the Manoel Theatre's biannual Baroque Festival. The seminar was organised by the International Institute for Baroque Studies and is the third of a series of seminars planned by the institute, which included lectures on 'The Baroque Theatre' and 'The Triumph over Death'.

In this seminar, Mro Joseph Vella delivered a lecture on Maltese music of the Baroque age, in which he discussed in depth the position of Malta as a centre of musical excellence, rivalling Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, this on the basis of music manuscripts that exist in Maltese archives, especially at Mdina.

Apart from focusing on the brilliant work of the earliest known Maltese Baroque composers, Mro Vella also talked about the existence of two cappellas in Malta, one in Valletta and one in Mdina, and the exchange of musicians between Malta and Italy in the Baroque period.

He introduced recorded examples of musical works by Maltese composers, illustrating local practices and standards.

The seminar was concluded with a short presentation by Professor Denis De Lucca, director of the institute, on the musical archives of the Marche in Italy, which contain a rich repertoire of 17th century music written for the archilute, the theorbo and the Spanish guitar, interpreted by Andrea Damiani on a CD, which was also introduced to the audience present.