(In the arms of the Saviour)
Tislima lil Ġanninu Cremona (1926-2019)
Colin Attard, 2020

Dated 16th June 2020, this funerary march is a salute to Mr John Cremona, a former activist of the Leone Philharmonic Society. Rising through several ranks, Mr Cremona served as President between 1972 and 1978 when the Society was constructing its Teatru tal-Opra Aurora and went on to produce the first ever opera in Gozo. An educator for life and a practising Catholic by conviction, Cremona never ceased to proclaim his faith and teach in all of his endeavours, particularly through his love for poetry and the stage. His lifelong devotion to Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and his regular poetry on the subject matter earned him the nickname of the Poet of the Assumption. His are several well-known hymns in honour of Our Lady, including what Gozitans know as “Għawdex Kollu Tbiddel f’Ġenna” (All of Gozo turned into a heaven) and “Warda Sbejħa tar-Rebbiegħa” (Beautiful Spring Flower) which ends with a prayer to Our Lady to lead us ‘into the arms of the Saviour’, hence the title of this funerary march.

(In the Garden) minn Ġw 18,1
B’tifkira tal-Bandist Anġlu Sultana (1926-2017)
Matthew Sultana, 2024

Inspired from the Gospel of John, chapter 18, verse 1, this march assumes the name of the Garden, with a biblical nod to the Garden of Olives where Jesus was apprehended while praying. But locals would also understand the colloquial reference to Lunzjata Valley, on the outskirts of Victoria, which people hailing from the area, like veteran bandsman Angelo Sultana, refer to as ‘il-Ġnien’ (the Garden). Angelo Sultana, (with no relation to the composer despite the common surname), served as a musician, playing the trombone, with the Leone Band between 1947 and 1999 when he was compelled to retire for medical reasons. He remained an honorary bandsman until his passing away in 2017. Following a religious hymn and two festive marches, this is the first ever funerary march penned by the composer, himself a resident musician with the Leone Band. This work is being donated to the Leone Band this evening, after being premiered last Sunday during the Gozo Cathedral’s Good Friday procession.

(In Your Memory)
B’tifkira tal-Bandist Walter Mompalao (1951-2022)
Josef Attard, 2024

Originally inspired by the fresh demise of his own grandfather, Attard, a resident musician with the Leone Band, composed his first ever funerary march in 2024, donating it to the Leone Philharmonic Society. It is being issued and premiered in memory of a former musician, Walter Mompalao, who played the Bb trumpet since 1964 up to this unexpected demise in 2022. Mompalao also served in various sections, including the Aurora stage as well as in one of his hometown’s football clubs, the S.K. Victoria Wanderers which he served for decades, first as a player and eventually as a committee member in various ranks.

Antonio Miruzzi, 1899

Born in Floriana in 1867, a young Antonio Miruzzi lost both parents prematurely and was institutionalised in a Valletta orphanage where he was spotted for his remarkable musicality. Life had it that he later on in life, as an adult, returned to the same orphanage as a music teacher. However, young Antonio was entrusted to his uncle Paul Miruzzi, then conductor of La Valette’s Philharmonic for his first music education, which he then furthered in Italy. Both uncle and nephew were very close to the Leone Band and it was only natural that Antonio was engaged as conductor in early 1890. He also tried an employment opportunity as a bandmaster on a cruiseship as well as, rather unsuccessfully, trying to settle with his young wife Concetta in Tunes. With the Leone Band he gained a nationwide reputation both as a celebrated conductor and as a composer. In fact, when he went on to live in Malta, he received the baton of several notable bands of the time on the main island and penned various significant musical pieces still performed to date. Although no real connection has ever been explained, the year 1899 indicated in the title happens to be the year Antonio Miruzzi was appointed conductor of the La Valette Philharmonic of Valletta. Miruzzi retired from conducting at 65 years of age but continued to compose until he passed away in Ħamrun in 1944.

(Act of Contrition)
Aurora Youth Choir
Matthew Sultana, 2024

The Act of Contrition has for a long time been considered an essential component of a Catholic’s curriculum. It is the prayer children learn by heart prior to their first ever conferment of the holy sacrament of Confession. This musical number, composed specifically for this occasion, is qualified as a ‘musical thought’, and strives to evoke the sentiments of repentance as expressed by the lyrics, a good deal of which are in quasi recitativo chant form. The Aurora Youth Choir, established in 2015 within the Leone Philharmonic Society and the Aurora Opera House, comprises mainly of young girls, with the aim of instilling a love for the discipline and art of the song and stage. It involves itself in several stage productions at the Aurora, creates its own niche activities and also lends a serving hand at the Gozo Cathedral church during functions and events aimed at a younger congregation. Matthew Sultana directs and accompanies the chorus on the keyboards.

(For the Dead)
Joseph Stivala

Born in Naxxar in 1897, Stivala grew to become a musician with the La Vallette Band of Valletta and the Royal Malta Artillery where we was also employed as a teacher. He directed the St George’s Band of Bormla, L’Isle Adam Band of Rabat (Malta) and the De Paule Philharmonic’s Christ the King Band of Raħal Ġdid (Paola), apart from the Melita Band in Tunesia. Then, in Gozo, Stivala directed the La Stella Band in the 1920s and then joined the Leone Band in 1933, becoming only one of three conductors who served both rival bands of Victoria. Stivala might be most renowned for the Leone Band’s own anthem, Il Leone, an Italian-style military march with very patriotic overtones in both musical style and lyrics. However, he was a prolific composer in his own right, with a number of instrumental works as well as funerary marches. Amongst these, Aux Morts emerges as truly distinctive in which the composer strays from certain overused shapes and forms and introduces elements, which people familiar with funerary marches might not easily encounter in other mainstream musical numbers pertaining to the genre. The Leone Band performed Aux Morts for the first time last Sunday during the Gozo Cathedral’s Good Friday procession.

Giovanni Giumarra

Pietro Platania was born at Catania and was a student of Pietro Raimondi at the Palermo Conservatory. Beginning in 1882, he was the maestro di cappella of Milan Cathedral. As a composer, he was known for his orchestral and church music. He was considered by Gioacchino Rossini and Giuseppe Verdi, among others, to be the greatest master of counterpoint of his day. Verdi even invited him to contribute to the Messa per Rossini, for which he wrote the Sanctus. Platania died in Naples in 1907. It is quite likely that Platania was at some point in time Giumarra’s teacher. Platania’s posting as director of the Naples Conservatory (1885-1902), during Giumarra’s early career might also start to explain the latter’s fascination with Napolitan music. However, the relationship between the two is not entirely documented. What is mathematically certain, however, is that they were contemporaries – despite a 33-year age gap, as Giumarra was born in Comiso, Sicily, in 1861. He arrived in Malta in 1906, and was engaged as a full time conductor with the Leone Band in Gozo in 1923 – a post he retained for 10 years. While Giumarra’s musical accomplishments were many and of various natures, including symphonic compositions and adaptations of symphonic works for bands, he undisputedly emerges as the preeminent composer as far as funerary marches are concerned. The Leone Band recorded a one-time collection of Giumarra funerary marches in a double-CD format in 2007.

Together with the Act of Contrition, the 5 Steps for a Good Confession, have for a long time been considered an essential component of a Catholic’s curriculum. They constitute the basic preparation for 7 year old children in lieu of their first ever conferment of the holy sacrament of Confession. The Teaching of the Catholic Church lists them as: (i) Examine your conscience (ii) Be sincerely sorry for your sins (iii) Promise you shall not repeat them (iv) Confess your sins to a priest and (v) Do the penance the priest assigns. A practising Catholic by conviction, award winning journalist, TV personality and opinionist Mark Laurence Zammit presents his take on what it really means in this day and age to go through these 5 Steps for a Good Confession.