https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73248 2026-04-15T09:48:29Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/122919 Title: Enter a spectator : a dialogue on the theatre and its opposite Abstract: It is true that in the theatre there is a tendency for spectacle and spectator to fuse. But the spectacle remains on the stage and the spectator remains on his seat. No natter how close the seat is to the stage, the spectator is always far away from the spectacle. It is true, there is an attraction between then but it always stops short of fusion. It is also interesting to note that spectacle and spectator come closest in the case of cinema and television and not in the case of theatre. But this closeness is illusion. The spectator is tricked into feeling close to the spectacle, a part of it alrnost, he illudes himself that he is somehow participating in a real event. I am not for this kind of closeness. I am not for the illusion of participation in a spectacle disguised as a real event. I am for the fusion and destruction of spectacle and spectator. In short I am not for theatre; neither pure nor impure. Description: B.A.GEN. 1968-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/99973 Title: A study of postcolonial drama in Malta Abstract: For almost two centuries Malta was a British colony. During this period it developed an active theatre which, unlike the situation in most colonized communities as described by postcolonial criticism, used a local language as its main means of expression. Most Maltese playwrights continued to write their plays in Maltese even after their country became independent, and therefore after the Maltese language had outlived its utility as a weapon of resistance against a formal foreign colonizer. The thesis traces the development of Maltese drama and theatre in the nineteenth and early twentieth century but its main focus is the drama of the post-independence period, when playwrights became more daring both in the views they held and in the form they gave to their plays. It discusses in detail the major themes which recur in Maltese plays from 1964, when Malta gained its independence from Britain, to the present day, thereby evaluating the various playwrights' position of commentators on their country's history, politics and social values. It is shown that many of the subjects that interest Maltese playwrights, such as history, power, family structures and theatrical life, are also present in many important plays originating in other postcolonial situations. Likewise, Maltese drama shares with other postcolonial drama a stylistic engagement with the western canon, which is analyzed in detail in the last chapter. Description: Ph.D. 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/99769 Title: 'Concerto in the Italian style' by Johann Sebastian Bach : an analysis Abstract: The Concerto in the Italian Style was originally composed to be played on the harpsichord and thus, presents a challenge to the modern performer who has to interpret this Concerto on the pianoforte. The first section of this dissertation starts with a brief description of the keyboard works written by Johann Sebastian Bach. These works show an interplay of influences of Italian and French musical styles. These are evident in the Italian Concerto. A thorough description of the instruments prevailing in the Baroque period, including the clavichord, the harpsichord, the fortepiano and the early modern piano, is dealt with in the second section. All these instruments have their particular strengths, weaknesses, tones and timbres. However, only the pianoforte prevailed to the modern era. This study serves as a preparation to Chapters 1, 2 and 3 which analyses the first, second and third movements of the Italian Concerto. These movements which were intended to be played on the harpsichord have to be interpreted with the same skill and dexterity on the pianoforte. These difficulties are dealt with in the conclusion of this dissertation. Description: DIP.MUSIC STUD. 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/99768 Title: Nisi Dominus a 3 voci (ACM, MUS. MS. 137) [by Anon. (XVIIth century)] : editing and critical commentary of an anonymous composition Abstract: Being a soprano myself and having sung quite a number of edited Maltese vocal works, I felt I would like to experience editing a music score myself. Indeed, it is such an interesting onus, which apart from the challenge to be as faithful as possible to the original manuscript, the editor takes off from the point where the composer had laid down his pen, and hence brings the work to life. It is a great satisfaction to write this music which, in Malta, has been left unpublished for some time. It is a great satisfaction to perform edited compositions. Yet I feel it is even a greater task and achievement to edit, and hence bring to life a work which would have been perhaps buried and long forgotten in an archive or theatre library. Hence my reason for having attempted this task. This essay deals with a general background of the seventeenth century, with particular reference to the basso continuo and vocal music, the edited transcription of Nisi Dominus and a critical commentary on this composition. Description: DIP.MUSIC STUD. 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z