1565 was the year of the Great Siege of Malta against the Ottomans. This year, the 450th anniversary of the Siege, has seen much new research on the subject. Before the year is out, I would like to add just one more contribution to this year's national celebration.
In 1890 the composer Luigi Vella published a new Polka Brillante for piano entitled 'L'8 Settembre 1565,' expressly for the date which was already being thought of as 'The National Feast'. The Maltese people, then under British rule, were looking at the Great Siege victory as a symbol of their Nationalism. The composition was furthermore dedicated to 'the fervid patriot' Dr Fortunato Mizzi, a leading member of the pro Italian community and also founder of what was to become the Nationalist party. The front cover of the music shows a symbol of victorious and triumphant Malta, patriotically holding a Maltese flag.
TDS L'8 Settembre 1565 - Polka Brillante
Luigi Vella (1868-1950)
Pianoforte
Malta
1890
4pp
Luigi Vella (1868-1950) was probably the most prominent of a family of Vella musicians. He dedicated his life to teaching, conducting and composing sacred and secular music. He was maestro di cappella at Porto Salvo in Valletta, was band master of the Prince of Wales band of Vittoriosa, and held many different posts. (See Franco Bruni The Vella Composers, PEG 1997)
It is interesting that it was not only Luigi Vella who was referring to 8 September as a 'Festa Nazionale'. We find Alfred P. Hare writing what he called a 'National Cantata '8 Settembre' in the early 1890s. It was performed on 12 September 1893 at the Palace Square by the Band HRH The Prince of Wales, of which he was then Bandmaster.
