Cappella Sanctae Catharinae’s Requiem Mass at St Mark’s Rabat

The concert, held on the eve of Palm Sunday, will feature a cappella polyphonic choral music appropriate for the start of Holy Week. Lassus’ Missa Pro Defunctis for four voices was written in 1578 and is possibly one of the last Requiem masses to use a preTridentine setting, as is attested by the use of the unusual Gradual Si Ambulem. The work will be interspersed with other short polyphonic pieces from the 16th century that complement this choral masterpiece.

St Mark’s Church was designed by Girolamo Cassar and is con- sidered as a prototype for the Order’s Conventual Church of St John in Valletta. The Priory, situated alongside the church, was designed by Andrea Belli, and is considered a Baroque architectural gem.

The concert will help to raise funds for the restoration of a set of 19th carved gilt statues of the Apostles. These statues, which were commissioned to adorn the main altar on high feasts, were made by none other than the famed artist Carlo Darmanin in 1894. This set is unusual because Darmanin produced original de- signs for these statues, rather than adopting the traditional iconography based on the Lateran set used for such statues. This project forms part of a much bigger ongoing restoration project at the Augustinian Priory in Rabat, which includes the recently restored facade of the church.

The concert, which will be held at St Mark church ( Tal-Agostinjani) in Rabat on 8 April, starts at 7.30pm and lasts around an hour. Entrance is free but there will be a retiring collection in aid of the restoration project currently underway at St Mark’s church.