The St Paul Choral Society (SPCS) this year marked its 25th anniversary with a tour to Rome and the Vatican between September 6 and 12.

This was the sixth tour to be organised by the choir under the artistic direction of Hugo Agius Muscat, following tours to the UK, Austria, France, Spain, Germany and Luxembourg, where it performed in prestigious cathedrals and churches.

The performances in Rome were held in five churches, with each event featuring very varied styles. Two of the concerts included solo pieces played by choir organist Elisabeth Conrad and by Agius Muscat.

The choir now boasts a wide repertoire of music and this was amply manifested in the five concerts.

The first performance was held on September 7 at the 19th-century Salesian Basilica del Sacro Cuore di Gesù. The programme ranged from William Byrd to Louis Vierne, Jehan Alain and Sergei Rachmaninov.

A composition titled Nativitas Tua by Agius Muscat, which was aptly written for the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, and other works by Maltese composers, were also performed.

The following morning, on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, the SPCS animated the Vespertine Mass at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Mario Grech together with Mgr Francis Bonnici. Agius Muscat’s Nativitas Tua was sung during the offertory.

The third event on September 9 was held at the church of San Paolo Entro le Mura, an episcopal church on Via Nazionale. This concert included predominantly British compositions by Benjamin Britten, Edward Elgar and John Rutter, among others, as well as the Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Joseph Vella’s English Mass. Three organ solos were performed by Agius Muscat and Conrad.

September 10 started off with mass animated by the SPCS at the basilica of Santa Sabina all’Aventino, where the choir sang Vella’s English Mass, Bach, Palestrina, Elgar and Mozart, as well as a contemporary Anima Christi by Marco Frisina, and other liturgical pieces.

The final performance was held on the same day at the basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. The choir was accompanied by Conrad at the piano, while Cecilia Agius Muscat directed two of the pieces. Handel’s Hallelujah chorus brought this performance and the whole tour to an end.

Friends of the choir are invited to a thanksgiving mass being held as part of the choir’s 25th anniversary celebrations at St John’s Co-Cathedral, in Valletta, on October 28 at 7pm.

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