L' archivio musicale della Cattedrale di Mdina a Malta : il repertorio Siciliano

Abstract

The musical chapel of the Cathedral of Malta, located in the old city of Mdina had close relations with Sicily in the seventeenth century. In fact, the historical documents reveal that from Sicily came the masters of the chapel, the voices and the music. But in the eighteenth century the Maltese chapel reached a certain autonomy, employing more local musicians, who, however, having formed in Naples from where they returned skilled masters and composers in the Neapolitan tradition, showed a strong Neapolitan inspiration. The situation was somewhat different in the organ sector because the chapter of the cathedral from the sixteenth century turned to Naples to buy the organs and used Sicilians, often residents in Malta, for their restoration. However, the parish churches and convents, as well as the conventual church of the Order of St. John, always turned to Sicily for both purchase and restoration.