Before his death, Ġużeppi Zammit feared he would take Maltese carols to the grave with him.

But Malta’s only male choir stepped in just in time and is now helping preserve the forgotten festive songs that date back to at least the 1950s.

Mr Zammit, who died of cancer in 2018 aged 79, used to take every opportunity to share the songs he had learnt as a child at Mużew (MUSEUM) and later sang with the Birkirkara St Helen parish choir under the direction of Mro Carmelo Costa.

When, in recent years, he was not able to walk unaided, he would be driven in a car behind the traditional baby Jesus procession and sing the carols on a loudspeaker.

From the streets of Birkirkara they have made it to Rome, sung by the male choir Cappella Sanctae Catharinae which this year celebrated its 10th anniversary.

It all started in 2010, when one of Mr Zammit’s daughters, MariaElena, accompanied her parents to a concert by the choir in Għargħur.

She happened to mention the carols to the choir’s artistic director and founding member, Alex Vella Gregory, who asked her for a recording.

The choir, which is registered as a voluntary organisation, was initially set up to raise funds for the preservation of heritage. Its very first concert was held at Santa Caterina d’Italia in Valletta to help raise funds for its restoration.

Since then, the choir has sung at 50 places of heritage across Malta. And as the years rolled by, the choir also started working towards preserving intangible heritage.

In 2016, Ms Zammit handed recordings of around 12 carol songs sung by her father to Mro Vella Gregory. Since then, the choir has released one carol every year with a musical arrangement by the composer.

More recently, Mro Vella Gregory came across a 1953 leaflet containing a carol by Ġuże Chetcuti, accompanied by a disclaimer that there is no musical arrangement for it.

Had it not been for Mr Zammit, it would not have been known that two melodies had been created for it – one that he would sing at Mużew and the other one at the Birkirkara parish church, which he attributed to Mro Costa.

Before his demise, Mr Zammit saw (and heard) two of the carols come alive and with his help, the rest of us can enjoy them for years to come.

The venture by Cappella Sanctae Catharinae has rekindled nostalgia in several, and some have shown interest in passing on knowledge about songs that have been forgotten over the years.

If you know any Maltese melodies, whether related to Christmas or not, you can contact the choir by sending an email on cappellamalta@gmail.com