The largely unsung history of Malta’s bells

Abstract

It was a lecture but then it was also an object lesson. As the audience settled down to listen to the lecture on the bells of Malta in the hall that forms part of the Birkirkara Collegiate Church, the sonorous Birkirkara bells on top of us began to solemnly peal the traditional ‘Mota tal- Hamis’ which can be heard at around 7pm on Thursdays in the mostly traditionalist parishes, along with the tolling of bells at three pm on Fridays to commemorate the Last Supper and the death of Christ respectively. The International Institute for Baroque Studies at the University of Malta held a public lecture on ‘Maltese Bells and Bell Ringing in the Baroque Age’ delivered by Kenneth Cauchi.