Għar Dalam [Musical Composition]

Abstract

Ghar Dalam (‘The Cave of Darkness’) is a suite in three movements for concert band. This work is inspired by a prehistoric cave on the small Mediterranean island-country of Malta. The cave, which is very deep and dark, was one of the earliest dwelling sites inhabited by Neolithic man who crossed to Malta from nearby Sicily around 5000BC. The three movements of the suite are inspired by this primitive place that itself evokes images of the past when the earliest traces of the Maltese nation began to be shaped.

1. ‘Il-Bidu’ (‘The Beginning’) gives the impression of something evolving within a dull and tense background. This leads to dissonant chords on the high brass that emerge like stalactites in contrast to the stalagmites represented in the deep sonority of the low brass. All this tension is eventually released in a melodious section. The movement approaches its conclusion by recalling the evolving notion of the beginning followed by the brass announcing the dawn of a nation in a fanfare-like motif reminiscent of a well-known motif in Maltese folk music.

2. ‘L-Ghanja tal-Hemda’ (‘The Sound of Silence’) unfolds in the form of a prayer with a very sentimental solo on the soprano saxophone. In this movement the cave is imaginatively transformed into a spiritual place where darkness and silence inspire the soul to reflection and prayer.

3. ‘Lil Hinn’ (‘Away’) In contrast to the previous movement, the third movement evokes the start of the nation's journey away from the cave. Snapshots of the past, represented for instance in the use of drone textures, and 'modern' irregularities expressed in frequent tempo changes, transpire as owing their very local origin to the cave which stands there impervious to time.

This composition was premiered in Malta in 1997 by the La Valette Philharmonic Band and was eventually recorded on CD by The University of Sheffield Wind Orchestra.