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Joseph Vella (9 January 1942, Victoria, Gozo – 25 February 2018, Marsalforn, Gozo)[1][2] was a Maltese composer, conductor, university professor, researcher, editor, and Artistic Director of Festivals. He is rightly regarded as Malta’s foremost twentieth- and twenty-first-century composer and the one most widely performed internationally. He was the first resident conductor of the then National Orchestra of Malta and the first composer-in-residence of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, a tenure he held between 2010 and 2015. In 1972, together with Dr Verena Maschat, a Viennese musician specialising in the Orff method for children’s musical education, and with the help of the Austrian Government and the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Joseph Vella set up the first music school on the island, the Johann Strauss School of Music. He served as the School’s Head intermittently between 1975 and 1978, and between 1986 and 1994, after which he was appointed Associate Professor of Music at the University of Malta until his retirement in 2007. He continued to dedicate himself to music in its various and varied aspects.

Personal Life
Joseph Vella was born into a musical family in Victoria Gozo to Annunziata née Attard and Ganni Vella on 9 January 1942. He attended primary and secondary school in Victoria, Gozo, after which he pursued further education at St Michael’s Training College, Malta. Postgraduate studies took him to the University of Durham, UK, from where he graduated B.A. (Hons) (am not sure if it was an Honours degree.  Perhaps you have his graduation certificate at home and can check). He also took special courses in Composition and Conducting in London, Siena, and Venice. He was married to Nathalie, née Portelli, and had two sons, Alan and Nikki. He was also grandfather to Cristina (Christina?) and Andrea. He passed away in Marsalforn, Gozo (Malta) on 25 February 2018.

Musical Education and Early Career
Joseph Vella started his piano, violin, and theory lessons with his father, Mro Ganni Vella, himself a composer and conductor, in Gozo. After initial tuition, he studied largely on his own and although he was interested in the performative aspect of his studies of the piano and the violin, he used these as a means to an end. He found himself innately disposed towards the theory and history of music, and this natural disposition was the first indication of his budding talent as a composer of note.

After finishing his school examinations, Joseph Vella attended a two-year residential course at St Michael’s Training College, from where he graduated as a trained teacher specialising in Music studies. He intensified his advanced musical study by following several courses in Harmony, Counterpoint, Fugue, and Orchestration with tutors both in Malta and also in the U.K. In 1966 he was elected Fellow of the London College of Music, after which he graduated with honours in conducting and composition after following courses with Franco Ferrara in Venice and Franco Donadoni at the Accademia Chigiana, Siena. In 1967 he was the first academic who introduced the teaching of music at tertiary level in Malta when he was appointed lecturer in Music at St Michael’s Training College. The following year he was appointed maestro di cappella at St George’s Basilica, a post he held for 50 years until his sudden passing. In 1970 he became an Inspector of Music in Government schools and the musical director of the La Stella Philharmonic Band.  In 1973, Joseph Vella was appointed Artistic Director of the Astra Opera Theatre. That same year, he became the first Maltese musician to graduate Bachelor of Music from the University of Durham, UK.

Joseph Vella never followed trends; he always set them. The first work that introduced him as a composer to the public was his orchestral suite, Three Mood Pieces op. 4. This was in 1958, when the composer was just sixteen years of age. This work was premiered at Malta’s foremost theatre, the Manoel Theatre. He also broke new ground with his Cantata Il-Barri op. 5, a choral/orchestral work that made use of the Maltese language as a medium for the first time ever on the Maltese islands (text is by Gozitan poet Ġorġ Pisani). In fact, this set the ball rolling for other composers to follow suit.

Malta’s Leading Composer
Joseph Vella has 154 opus numbers to his credit and close to 200 works which are unclassified. He was in the process of composing his first opera, entitled Valeriana op. 155 (libretto by well-known Maltese playwright, Vince Vella) when he passed away. Vella’s style is contemporary with influences from the neo-classical movement of the early twentieth century. He also had a penchant for the contrapuntal structures of the sixteenth-century and the Baroque masters. What is striking in his works is the versatility he shows: he composed 5 Symphonies, 13 Concertos for different instruments (1 for piano, violin, flute, piccolo, clarinet, cornet, 2 for violoncello, a Concerto Barocco for bassoon and string orchestra, a Concerto for 2 Pianos solo, a Concerto for orchestra, a Concerto Grosso for harp, harpsichord and piano soli and orchestra, and a set of Symphonic Variations on a theme by Chopin for Piano solo and orchestra), 5 Oratorios, 7 Song Cycles, 2 Cantatas, 31 different choral and orchestral works, and an extensive range of chamber music works for a variety of ensembles, from solo to duos, trios, quartets and quintets, small ensembles, and vocal. There are also pieces for wind band, hymns, anthems, sacred music such as vespers and antiphons, and secular compositions – both vocal and instrumental. (At this point you may wish to include a hyperlink or reference to his complete list of works which I will provide in both Word Document and PDF).

The style of Joseph Vella is idiosyncratic and inimitable. He does not display nationalistic tendencies in his work and when these are present they are only perceived minimally, subtly and indirectly. For instance, there is an implied Mediterranean flavour in his song cycle Seħer op. 39 for soprano and orchestra (text by leading Maltese poet Daniel Massa), and Canti op. 88 (for Clarinet, Violoncello and Pianoforte). In using the Maltese language, Vella has been the first to explore the inherent musicality of his native tongue. This emerges in a ‘daring’ attempt in its time of a pioneering venture to set to music the poem by Ġorġ Pisani, Il-Barri.  This long narrative poem developed into a fully-fledged work for Choir and Orchestra, Il-Barri op. 5, a secular Cantata. This highly dynamic work, which was controversial in its own time, set the trend for the Maltese language to be used as a medium in serious works, and it was Joseph Vella himself who used it in 4 of his 7 song cycles, namely, Seħer op. 39 (Soprano and Orchestra), Askesis op. 72 (Alto and Orchestra), Poeżiji tal-Baħrija (Tenor and Orchestra), and Nisġiet l-Imħabba (Baritone and Orchestra). Additionally, through songs such as Waħdi op. 13, Il-Kebbies tal-Fanali op. 18 (originally both for Soprano and Pianoforte) and ''X’Milied hu dan? op. 21 (High Voice and Pianoforte), Vella distances himself from the traditional inclination of contemporary composers to lean towards the folkloristic, typical of Maltese Għana'', in order to prove that the Maltese language can be used in forms traditionally associated with the classical Lieder. To this day, his songs are in great demand by performers, whether in concerts (world-famous tenor Joseph Calleja regularly includes Il-Kebbies tal-Fanali op. 18 in both his recitals with pianoforte as well as in concerts with orchestra perhaps a hyperlink to Joseph Calleja performing this song with orchestra with Brian Schembri conducting.  I believe it can be found on YouTube) as well as in auditions, examinations and performances in major venues in Malta and beyond.

Primarily, Joseph Vella is inclined towards an atonal language with a tendency towards a fundamental note if not a tonal centre. This style is mostly evident in a large amount of his instrumental chamber works and also those for orchestra. On the other hand, Vella has a natural disposition for melody and those who are acquainted with his work are aware of his wonderful talent for melodic beauty. This lyrical aspect of his work emerges mostly in the slow movements, especially those of his Concertos and Symphonies. There is a nobility and aristocracy of tone here which critics have appreciated as being reminiscent of the style of Joseph Haydn. His melodies are inexhaustible – his vocal works are replete with wonderful, subtle turns of phrase that have the power to enchant and capture the imagination of both performer and audience.

His diversity of style is amply evidenced by comparing the pungent asperity of his String Quartet op. 33, written for and premiered by the Kronos String Quartet (hyperlink to the Kronos here? They are world famous) with the lyricism of the Canticle Cantata op. 42 for soloists, SSAA children’s choir, SATB choir and orchestra; or the impulsive exuberance of the Violin Concerto op. 65, with the ascetic flavour of some of his a cappella works (Sicut Cervus op. 78, Sequenza a 2 op. 85). Very typical of Vella’s inclinations is the Sinfonia (con voce femminile) op. 48, where abstract musical lines are woven together round a vague formal foundation through a dramatic exploration of orchestral sonorities. The slow second movement of the Sinfonia introduces a vocal cantilena for high soprano, another arresting example by Vella in which he explores the intrinsic lyricism of the Maltese language. There is also the ever popular Mass in D op. 20 and the Cantata Laudate Pueri Dominum op. 20b composed to be performed at St. George’s Basilica in Gozo (Malta) on the Saint’s feast day.

Vella has been commissioned to write works by leading performers the world over, and his works are regularly performed world-wide. A few of his compositions have also been commissioned by the prestigious Associated Board of Music (London) and have featured in the syllabus. He has recorded no fewer than 28 CDs consisting solely of his work. He also led an ambitious project consisting of recording Maltese music ranging from the first-known extant work dated 1652 (Giuseppe Balzano’s Beatus Vir) to the present time. These recordings include 7 CDs, most of which are double albums. There are also works of his recorded alongside pieces by important contemporary composers. Among these one finds Memus – Compositori del nostro tempo; Spectrum 4 – Piano Pieces from all over the world; The Music of Petrassi, Stravinski, Britten, Vella; Clarinet Music by Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, Piazzolla, Vella; Music for Alto Saxophone and Pianoforte – Fortman, Pierami, Vella, Calgaris, Itturalde; and others (If you have copies of these CDs perhaps it would be a good idea to place a few at Il-Hagar to be sold). In 2005, the Marino Marini Centre in Pistoia (Italy) chose Joseph Vella instead of Gian Carlo Menotti for a new composition based on an original theme by Stravinsky. The Russian composer had scribbled a 7-note theme on a postcard. In a couple of weeks, Vella was able to transcribe Stravinsky’s sketch into the most imaginable work, Riflessioni su un Tema di Stravinsky op. 107.  These set of variations for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn in F, and Pianoforte, was premiered at the Museo Marino Marini in Pistoia on 21 April 2006. He was also commissioned to write a work on the anniversary of Carlo Lorenzini (better known as Carlo Collodi) by the local council of Collodi (Italy). The result was Pinocchio in musica: Fiaba musicale per voci recitanti e piccola orchestra op. 128. This major work was premiered in Villa Garzoni, Collodi, on 27 July 2012, and was conducted by the composer himself.

In September 2001 Joseph Vella conducted the Prometheus Symphony Orchestra of New York in a programme of his works (Concerto for 2 Pianos Solo op. 99, the song cycle Seħer op. 39, the overture Jubilo op. 47, the Mass in D op. 20 for soloists, 4-part choir and orchestra, the choral motet Domine Jesu Christe op. 38, and the Cantata for soloists, choir and orchestra Laudate Pueri Dominum op. 20b) at the Lincoln Centre (Alice Tully Hall) hyperlink to Lincoln Centre? With 5 full blown Symphonies and two Sinfoniettas (one for Strings and another for 13 Woodwind players) to his credit, Joseph Vella can rightly claim to be the first (and up to now, the only) symphonist in the history of Maltese music.

A major concert consisting of his works took place at St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York (hyperlink?) in November 2016. This included The ‘Hyland’ Mass op. 130 (for SATB Soli, Boy Soprano, SATB Chorus, and Orchestra) as well as The True Face of God op. 150 (for 4 Horns, Organ and Timpani) and Fanfare and Anthem for Peace op. 134 (for SATB Chorus and Orchestra). This concert was highly acclaimed and was later transmitted on major radio stations in New York City and New Jersey. An important performance of Rebbieħa op. 45 by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (hyperlink to MPO?) will take place later this year at the famous Carnegie Hall, New York, and in the legendary Tchaikovsky Hall, Conservatory of Moscow and the Mariinsky, St Petersburg (hyperlinks to the Carnegie, the Tchaikovsky Hall and the Marinsky?)

A large number of Joseph Vella’s works are available on Compact Disc.

His entire classified opus (numbering 154), together with many files containing programmes, reviews, posters, photos, programme notes, and more, as well as memorabilia, is now at Il-Ħaġar Museum (hyperlink to the Museum?) Victoria, Gozo. This precious legacy can be consulted by scholars, researchers, performers, and students.

Conducting Career
As a conductor, Joseph Vella has directed numerous and diverse repertoire both in Malta and abroad. He has been invited to work with important orchestras many times. These include the Malta National Orchestra (he was the orchestra’s first resident conductor), the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prometheus Symphony Orchestra of New York, Orquesta Nacional do Porto, Orchestra ‘Goffredo Petrassi’ di Roma, ‘Gli Armonici’ di Palermo, The Yamaha Foundation Symphony Orchestra, and many more (hyperlinks to any of these?). In his long and immensely fruitful collaboration with the Malta Choral Society (1970 – 1982), Joseph Vella introduced to Maltese audiences great choral and orchestral works which had been unknown till then. These include Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 (Choral), Orff’s Carmina Burana, Britten’s Ballad of Heroes and St Nicholas Cantata, Bruckner’s Te Deum, and more. With the Laudate Pueri Choir of St George’s Basilica, for whom Joseph Vella composed his best choral works, he premiered Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms.

Since 1970 till his sudden passing, Joseph Vella was the Musical and Artistic Director of the Astra Opera Theatre in his native Victoria, Gozo (Malta). His name became a legendary point of reference for opera productions such as those by Verdi (Rigoletto, Aida, La traviata, La forza del destino, Nabucco, Macbeth, Il trovatore, Un ballo in maschera, Otello), Puccini (La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Il trittico, Turandot), others by Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana), Leoncavallo (Pagliacci), Donizetti (L’elisir d’amore, Lucia di Lammermoor) and Bellini (Norma) (hyperlink to these operas?)  These productions saw the participation of great opera singers such as Ghena Dimitrova, Francesca Patanè, Cecilia Gasdia, Adelaida Negri, Daniela Dessì, Giuseppe Giacomini, Rumen Doikov, Fabio Armiliato, Mark Rucker, Aldo Protti, Nicola Rossi Lemeni, Hao Jiang Tian, and many more (perhaps a hyperlink to a few of these great names and operas??).

Critics have attributed to Joseph Vella’s conducting a sense of profound respect towards what he imagines are the composer’s intentions, manifesting an exceptional feeling for large-scale musical architecture and form together with a heightening of the musical line. He is well-known for being sensitive to the nuances of the score, and singers have always been appreciative of the manner in which he is particularly understanding and knowledgeable of, and respectful towards the delicacy of the voice. His penchant for rhythmic dynamism together with an innate talent to capture the essence of the musical intensity have established his performances as a benchmark for excellence. Suffice it to say that after a concert of operatic arias with Joseph Vella, world-famous soprano Cecilia Gasdia commented that “Joseph Vella is one of the few musical directors I know with whom I would be willing to sing an entire opera without a single rehearsal”.

Joseph Vella also had tenures as resident conductor at St Dizier, France, as well as in Quinto Vicentino (Maggio).

Researcher and Editor
Joseph Vella is rightly known as the ‘Father of the Maltese Revival Movement’. His pioneering work and continued interest in early Maltese music, dating back to the first-known manuscript (Beatus Vir of 1652) by Giuseppe Balzano (1616 – 1699) extant at the Mdina Archives and extending into the 17th and 18th centuries, has led to a tremendous interest in this Maltese cultural and musical heritage by scholars, historians, and students not only in Malta but beyond. He has edited these works, and performed them both locally and abroad many times, most notably in venues such as St Martin in the Fields (London), United Nations Headquarters (New York), Les Invalides (Paris), and other concert halls in Bonn, Cambridge, Marseille, Seville, Thessalonika, Cairo, Damascus, Porto, and many others. He has also recorded many of these wonderful pieces in the series entitled An Anthology of Maltese music, comprising 7 CDs most of them double albums.

He is credited with having discovered two rare pieces by Monteverdi and Carissimi which appear to be extant only at the Mdina Archives in Malta. From research carried out by Joseph Vella it transpires that the Monteverdi piece exists as a contrafactum in Venice (hyperlink to contrafactum. It’s a technical word in music). The one extant at Mdina Archives is Ecce panis angelorum, for 2 sopranos and 2 tenors soli, and string ensemble. When Vella discovered this piece, the 2nd tenor part was missing. With his extraordinary contrapuntal knowledge and ability, he wrote the missing piece, fitting it superbly with the rest of Monteverdi’s music. Critics attending the first performance of this work (1980) commented that it was impossible to tell which of the parts Vella composed, such was the perfect contrapuntal blend he managed to weave in with the original Monteverdi canvas.

Apart from working on the compositions extant at the Mdina Archives, he also worked on music found in other Archives all over Malta and Gozo, most notably at Cospicua and St George’s Basilica, and others which are in private collections.

Joseph Vella also contributed academic articles to several local and foreign publications, and he participated and read papers at music conferences in Malta, Italy, Austria, France, England, Turkey Greece, and the USA. He also acted both as Chairman and as a member on various jury panels for international Music Competitions, including the prestigious Valentino Bucchi, as well as others in Norway, Marseille, Trapani, Lamporecchio, and others (hyperlinks or references?)  He was also invited to speak about and conduct his works at the Conservatorio di Lucca (2009), University of Salzburg (2011), University of Damascus (2012), Music Academy of St Dizier (2014), and the University of Delaware, USA (2016). (hyperlinks to these universities/institutions?)

Artistic Director
Since its inception in 1997, Joseph Vella was the Artistic Director of the Victoria International Arts Festival (hyperlink?) a Festival of classical music which is the longest-standing of its kind in Malta. This is an annual event which takes place over a five-week period between June and July. This Festival was the brainchild of Joseph Vella and his team, and from humble beginnings of around 5 concerts it quickly developed into a fully-fledged, wide-ranging, international event comprising 35 concerts performed uninterruptedly over five weeks. Through contacts established by Joseph Vella with top-class musicians all over the world, the Festival hosts performers from all over Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia as well as Australia. It is held in different venues all over Victoria, Gozo (Malta), to include St George’s Basilica, the Aula Mgr G. Farrugia, St Francis Church, St Augustine Church, the Bishop’s Curia, Il-Haġar Museum and Roof-Top, and more. The opening and closing concerts of VIAF are performed by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (hyperlink?) and the rest of the concerts consist mainly of chamber ensembles performing a range of works from the late Middle Ages to the contemporary. All concerts and cultural events of this prestigious Festival are offered to the public free of charge. It is now in its 22nd edition.

Joseph Vella was also the Artistic Director of Festival Mediterranea (hyperlink?) organised by La Stella Philharmonic Society within Astra Theatre (hyperlink?)  This Festival focuses on Mediterranean culture, including archaeology, history, folk traditions, cuisine, and more. The main event of this Festival is the annual production of two performances of an opera which is held at the end of October. Up till his passing, Joseph Vella conducted 62 productions of these operas (apart from many more in Malta and beyond).

Apart from heading two of the major Festivals on the Maltese islands, Joseph Vella was also the musical director of La Stella Philharmonic Band (hyperlink?), a post he occupied from 1970 until his passing. He was also the Musical Director of the Count Roger Band (hyperlink?) for 40 years.

Selected Honours and Awards
·      Castlebar Song Festival, Ireland (1973)

·      Mediterranean Music Festival, Antalya (1987)

·      Associazione Musicale P.L. da Palestrina, Catania (1992)

·      Malta Music Awards (1996)

·      Gieħ il-Belt Victoria (1997)

·      Gieħ ir-Repubblika (1999)

·      Maltese-American Community Club, Michigan (2001)

·      Victoria Local Council (2005)

·      Mazara del Vallo, Sicily (2007)

·      Città di Valletta, Malta (2009)

·      Gieħ Għawdex (2010)

·      Cavaliere Stella d’Italia (2016)

When news of his passing spread across the world, Jennifer Margaret Barker (hyperlink?), Professor of Composition, University of Delaware, USA, together with her husband John, set up the Joseph Vella Prize for best Composition by a student from the Music Department at the University. The first recipient of this award was Christopher Johnson. This prestigious prize will be awarded annually.

www.josephvella.com.mt