Francesco Azopardi’s works in tonight’s Rabat Agape Festival concert

Two musical scores attributed to Maltese composer Francesco Azopardi are part of the repertoire in tonight’s 9 February concert at St Paul’s parish church in Rabat. Starting at 7.30pm, this concert is set to include music from upcoming and established Maltese composers such as Reuben Pace, Paul Portelli and Maurizio Schembri together with music from the archives of the Wignacourt Museum and the Mdina Cathedral Museum.

Taken from these archives are Francesco Azopardi’s Alma Re

demtoris found at the Wignacourt Museum and his antiphon

Vade Anania which is at the Mdina Cathedral Museum. The

Alma Redemptoris, is a Marian hymn written in Latin hexameter, and one of four seasonal liturgical Marian antiphons sung at the end of the office of Compline (the other three being Ave

Regina cælorum, the Regina coeli and the Salve Regina). Musically, this composition brings the mood of a true gallant style which is evident in the works by Francesco Azopardi. It has 118 bars and is composed for soprano solo accompanied by flute, strings and continuo, in C major and in compound meter. This was edited by musicologist Professor Richard Divall AO, OBE.

The Vade Anania is one of the most noteworthy and significant works by Francesco Azopardi. According to the records at the Mdina Cathedral Archives,

Vade Anania, an antiphon for the feast of the conversation of St. Paul, Mdina Cathedral’s titular feast, was written on January 23, 1807, at the request of the Cathedral Chapter. The composition was first performed the next day, in the evening during First Vespers. Scored in the key of B flat for tenor solo, strings, 2 oboes, 2 horns and continuo, it consists of just 63 bars in common time, one of the shortest works of its kind in Maltese musical literature.

Francesco Azopardi was born in Rabat on 5th May 1748. He began his musical training under Don Michel’Angelo Vella and in 1762 was sent to the famous music conservatory of Sant’ Onofrio in Naples. He left the conservatory in 1767 but remained in Naples until 1774. Most biographers claim that in Naples he studied under the direction of Nicolo Piccinni and Giuseppe Doll. By 1773, while still in Naples, Azopardi was offered the post of organist by the Bishop of Malta, Mgr. Pellerano. Later he became Maestro di Cappella at the Cathedral and music teacher in the Italian tradition.

This concert is being organised through the support of APS Bank, Fr Martin Caruana OP Foundation, Green MT and the Wignacourt Museum.