This is the first piece taken from the third set of the piano cycle 'Knejjes' (Churches) inspired by the many churches around the city of Valletta, Malta. 

This piece looks at the Church of St Mary of Jesus from which the Valletta Good Friday procession is held. The music takes the form of a slow funeral march, with each section mirroring the passing procession with its various statuary groups reflecting the Mysteries of Christ's Passion.

Track performed by the composer, March 2021.

Marċ tal-Imwiet (Funeral March)

'Żifna' was commissioned by a private individual to celebrate their parents' wedding anniversary.

Performer: Alexander Vella Gregory

Żifna

Scene 6 from the ballet Kalypso

Alexander Vella Gregory, piano
Studio recording

Commissioned & Produced by Żfin Malta
Choreography: Jacob Piccino
Original Score: Alexander Vella Gregory
Sound Design: Kristopher Chahda
Light Design: Moritz Zavan Stoeckle
Costumes & Masks: Lucien Cassou

Premiered February 2021

Rain (Scene from Kalypso)

Violin Sonata (2006)

Violin: Sarah Spiteri
Piano: Alex Vella Gregory

I - Żifna
II - Ħemda
III - Tema u Varjazzjonijiet

Recorded live at its premiere performance on Tuesday 4th September 2007 at St James Cavalier Valletta

Violin Sonata

Lacrymae Iesus

Text taken from the Gospel of St John

Music by Alexander Vella Gregory
Performers: The New Choral Singers
Recorded Live at the Metropolitan Cathedral, Mdina, Malta
27th October 2006
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - No part may be reproduced, or used without prior permission.

'Maria ergo cum venisset ubi erat Iesus videns eum cecidit ad pedes eius et dixit ei,  'Domine si fuisses hic non esset mortuus frater meus.' 

Iesus ergo ut vidit eam plorantem, plorantes fremuit spiritu et turbavit se ipsum, et dixit 'Ubi posuistis eum?' Dicunt ei Domine, 'Veni et vide.' Et lacrimatus est Iesus.

(John, 11)

Lacrymae Iesus

Consolamini

Text taken from the book of Gospel of St John

Music by Alexander Vella Gregory
Performers: May Caruana (Alto), Orchestra conducted by Robert Calleja
Recorded Live at St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta
11th June 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - No part may be reproduced, or used without prior permission.

Ecce agnus Dei qui tollit peccatum mundi
Hic est de quo dixi post me venit vir qui ante me factus est quia prior me erat
et ego nesciebam eum sed ut manifestaretur Israhel propterea veni ego in aqua baptizans
quia vidi Spiritum descendentem quasi columbam de caelo et mansit super eum
et ego nesciebam eum sed qui misit me baptizare in aqua ille mihi dixit super quem videris Spiritum descendentem et manentem super eum hic est qui baptizat in Spiritu Sancto
et ego vidi et testimonium perhibui quia hic est Filius Dei

(John 1: 29-34)

Ecce Agnus Dei

This is the second song from my song cycle 'Mill-Qamar sal-Qabar' (From the Moon to the Grave).

This is taken from 'Riflessi' an album of Maltese art song recorded by Miriam Cauchi. All rights reserved by the composer and the performers.

Miriam Cauchi, soprano
Alex Vella Gregory, piano

recorded at San Anton Presidential Palace, Ħ'Attard in September 2013.

Produced and Recorded by Rene Brian Mamo
Mastered by Eric James at Philosophers Barn, UK

Photography credit: George Saguna


Kantilena

V - Rosa Mystica (Mystic Rose)
from Piano Sonata No. 5 'Litany'

This is the 5th movement from my Piano Sonata No. 5 subtitled 'Litany'. Each of the 12 movements is a musical reflection on one of the many titles ascribed to the Virgin Mary in the Catholic devotion of the Litany of the Virgin.

The rose is a flower with a very powerful symbolism, associated with love, and also with the Virgin Mary. The number 5 is the basis of this movement, derived from the 5-petal rose of heraldry. The right hand has a perpetuum mobile figure that changes by one note every 5 bars. Against this, a five note row in the other voice appear slowly, at pre-determined intervals. The result is an unfolding and closing of the ‘rose’.

Joanne Camilleri, piano
Thursday 15th May 2014
Sala Isouard, Valletta


Rosa Mystica (from Sonata No. 5)

This is the fourth and final movement from the piano duet piece 'Irkejjen' (Locations), inspired by Valletta's diverse neighbourhoods. 'Dijuballi' is the name of a neighbourhood in the lower part of Valletta, originally called 'Due Balli'. It is considered one of the roughest neighbourhoods in the City, but also one of the liveliest.

Performance Details:
Live Recording
Gisele Grima and Erika Gialanze on the piano
Sunday 21st June 2015
Aula Mrg Giuseppe Farrugia, Rabat, Gozo
part of the Victoria International Arts Festival

Dijuballi

Eki t’Eki / Echoes of Echoes (2016) is an art song for soprano, flute and harp set to words by Maltese poet Glen Calleja. This work is a Malta Arts Festival commission and was premiered on Tuesday 12th July at the Fortress Builders Interpretation Centre, Valletta as part of the Malta International Arts Festival 2016. 

This recording is of the live premiere performance by the brilliant young Maltese soprano Francesca Aquilina, together with flautist Laura Cioffi and harpist Caroline Muscat. 

Eki T'Eki

This choral work is the first one for the Valletta Antiphonary, a collection of 5 festa antiphons related to the 5 major Valletta feasts, reinterpreted in a more contemporary idiom.

Cappella Sanctae Catharinae
Alex Vella Gregory, music director
Church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo (St Dominic), Valletta
Saturday 21st May 2016
Live  Premiere Recording

Pie Pater

This is the third song from my song cycle 'Mill-Qamar sal-Qabar' (From the Moon to the Grave). The text is by Ġan Franġisk Bonamico (1639 - 1680)and is an ode to Grand Master Cotoner probably written for a May Day celebration 

This is taken from 'Riflessi' an album of Maltese art song recorded by Miriam Cauchi. All rights reserved by the composer and the performers.

Miriam Cauchi, soprano
Alex Vella Gregory, piano

recorded at San Anton Presidential Palace, Ħ'Attard in September 2013.

Produced and Recorded by Rene Brian Mamo
Mastered by Eric James at Philosophers Barn, UK

Photography credit: George Saguna

Mejju Ġie bil-Ward u Żahar

Wied Għammieq (2005) is based on a dream sequence that my late grandmother used to narrate to me when I was young. The dream goes something like this:

'I was walking alone at night when I passed by the cemetery of Wied Għammieq, and I saw several lit candles from behind the chancel. It was then I saw these shadowy figures approaching and calling me. I was not afraid of them, so I went up to them and asked them what they wanted. 'Pray for us', they pleaded, 'light a candle and pray for us that we may not be forgotten. So I did, and I pray for those poor souls every day. And so should you...always pray for the poor souls of Wied Għammieq.'

For many years I thought the story was a fabrication of my grandmother, one of her many pious tales she used to tell me on warm summer nights sitting outside on the threshold, stories which often sat alongside less pious but very humorous and exaggerated tales. Then on day I stumbled on the real Wied Għammieq - a dilapidated and abandoned cemetery on the outskirts of Kalkara next to Fort Ricasoli and Fort Rinella. The cemetery amounts nothing more to a communal pit where the victims of the 1837 cholera outbreak, most of whom came from the Ospizio in Floriana. The Ospizio was nothing more than a substandard 'refuge' for society's undesirables: the old, the disabled, illegitimate offsprings, orphans, retired prostitutes, the 'possessed', etc...all conveniently hidden from society in the bastion walls of Floriana. Those were the 'poor souls' that my grandmother spoke of. 

The Edinburgh String Quartet
February 2006
St Giles High Kirk, Edinburgh, Scotland

Wied Għammieq

This work, commissioned by the Argotti Ensemble, is built around the painting of 'Our Lady of the Rosary' by Francesco Zahra in the Parish Church of the Assumption, Ħal Għaxaq. The painting shows the Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus with St Dominic and St Catherine of Siena kneeling before him. 

The work uses a melody from the Agnus Dei of a small mass I had written earlier and weaves it into a three part work - a section for each of the three mysteries of the Holy Rosary. The first, the Joyful Mysteries, are given to the piano (representing the Virgin Mary). The French horn (representing Christ)joins for the second part for the Sorrowful Mysteries. The two violins, representing St Dominic and St Catherine, join for the final part - the Glorious Mysteries. 

The Argotti Ensemble

Maria Conrad, violin
Nemanja Ljubinkovic, violin
Jose García Gutiérrez, French horn
Philip Walsh, Piano

Recorded at Acapela Studios, Cardiff, Wales
Sound Engineer: Lee House

Project supported by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra

Sonata sopra Agnus Dei

Jekk ma fhimtux, dak kollu li ħabbejna issa mar,
Il-ħolma li aħna ħlomna sar duħħan,
Għax dak li twelidt bih
Ħaddieħor ried jixtrih
U ħadna flusu w morna lura d-dar.

Jekk ma fhimtux, l-Assedju bqajna qatt ma irbaħnih,
Għax wirt missirijietn’aħna qriednih.
Waħħalna fil-barrani
Għall-qerq ta’ raġel għani
Li serqilna artna w irringrazzjajnih.

Rit:	Araw daqxejn id-demm
	Iċarċar mal-bandiera ta’ pajjiżi
	U jimla’ l-irjus sħan għatxan’għar-rebħ.
	Kulħadd iħanxar b’rabja ‘Viva Ċesri’,
	U ‘l Alla bqajna qatt ma tajnih xejn.

Jekk ma fhimtux, li kollha maqbudin fuq roqgħa blat,
Ta’ xejn it-torrijiet u it-triqat.
Ħadd minnkom ma jrid jara
Li aħna lkoll baħħâra
U ma nafux b’fruntieri jew bi stat.

Jekk ma fhimtux, ma fadal ħadd li jaf kif taħdem l-art,
Insejna kif ixxettel, x’inhu l-ħart.
Kif tista’ taqta’ l-ġuħ
Biċ-ċifri mingħajr ruħ?
Mill-konkos qatt ma nibet qamħ jew ward.

Rit: 	Araw daqxejn id-demm
	Iċarċar fuq idejna ndifferenti
	U jtebba’ l-flus li bihom xtrajna s-skiet.
	Kulħadd iħanxar b’rabja, ‘Viva Malta’,
	Filwaqt li nxejru l-bnadar tal-partit.

Jekk ma fhimtux, dak kollu li ħabbejna issa mar,
Dawk kollha li ħabbejna marru d-dar
U fadal int u jien,
Iltiema fl-aqwa żmien
Bl-għaraq ta’ ħidmietna nitfu n-nar.

Jekk ma fhimtux

This is the fourth movement from 'Awwissu' (August), a five-movement work from flute, oboe, and harp that looks at folkloristic traditions associated with August weather phenomena.

'L-Għerejjex ta' Santa Marija' (St Mary's Dwellings) refers to the first summer showers that happen around mid-August (around the feast of the Assumption on the 15th), and usually signal the beginning of the end of the summer season. 

This work was written in 2005.

Rebecca Hall, flute
John McDonough. oboe
Britt Arend, harp

Live recording for Chamber Music Fridays series

Project supported by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra

L-Għerejjex Ta' Santa Marija

This is the first song from my song cycle 'Tluq' (Departure), a setting of three poems by contemporary Maltese poet John Aquilina.

This is taken from 'Cantilena' an album of art songs recorded by Gillian Zammit (soprano), Britt Arend (Harp) and Frank Camilleri (cello). This project is produced and supported by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. All rights reserved. 

Gillian Zammit, soprano
Frank Camilleri, cello
Britt Arend, harp

Record Label: Navona Records

Photography credit: MPO

Vistu (Mourning)

Riħ / Wind is taken from Sinfonija Beltija / A Valletta Symphony (2016), which marks the culmination of years of research into Valletta, its communities, and their narratives. This five movement work brings together a wide range of elements from festas to football, and from history to contemporary attitudes. These interludes form the introduction to these movements and serve as moments of reflection before each movement. 

The wind represents the natural elements that interact daily with the city. The five interludes are cyclical in nature, representing both a daily and a seasonal cycle. These natural cycles contrast with the more aperiodic nature of human activity. These interludes are scored for chamber orchestra.

This is the third interlude which describes a violent winter storm lashing against the city.

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra
Sergey Smbatyan, conductor.

Record Label: Navona Records

Available from: https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6322/

Photography credit: Wiki Commons

Wind - III. A Violent Autumn Storm (from 'A Valletta Symphony')

This Pastorale is the first in the piano cycle 'Knejjes' (Churches)based on 24 different churches around Valletta, Malta. This piece is inspired by the Church of St Francis - a beautiful Baroque church with a strong Christmas tradition. Not only is Christmas intimately tied with St Francis but this particular church has a beautiful crib on display throughout the year in the adjacent convent. 

The Pastorale is a musical form that has very strong historical connections to Christmas. In this particular work the carol Veni veni Emmanuel as well as Galea's Christmas Pastorale are referenced. 

For more info on the cycle visit: http://alexvellagregory.com/project/knejjes/

To purchase the sheet music visit: https://ump.co.uk/composer/alexander-vella-gregory/

Pianist: Alex Vella Gregory

Photo: Borgden, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Pastorale (from Churches I)

Alexander Vella Gregory was born in Malta in 1984. He has studied piano with Paul Borg and Joanne Camilleri, and obtained a Fellowship of the London College of Music (FLCM) diploma in 2013. In 2002, he won the Ian Tomlin Napier/Malta Music Scholarship which enabled him to pursue a B.Mus(Hons) degree in composition at the Ian Tomlin School of Music, Napier University, Edinburgh where he graduated in July 2006 with honours. He is active as a composer pianist, accompanist and teacher.

Alexander has performed in many venues both in Malta and abroad, including Edinburgh, Vienna, Italy and Washington DC. He is also a continuo player with the Valletta International Baroque Ensemble. Alex Vella Gregory is also very active as a composer, and his works have been performed in Malta, Edinburgh, Vienna, Frankfurt, Prague, Finland and the USA.
!Alexander is also the Artistic Director and a founding member of the Cappella Sanctae Catharinae, Malta’s only male choir (www.cscmalta.com). He is also a continuo player with the newly formed Valletta International Baroque Ensemble.

He is also very active in the theatre scene, and has written music for various theatrical productions. Some of these include Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream (MADC, 2007), Euripides’ The Bacchae (MADC, 2008) and Arsenic & Old Lace (MADC, 2012). Alex was also vocal coach for the Malta run of the hit musical Spring Awakening (MADC, 2009), and for Ospizio (Teatru Anon, 2010), a site-specific theatre performance commissioned for the Malta Summer Arts Festival 2010.
!Alexander has participated in several music education projects for children, including The Carnival of Animals (2009), a dance performance for kids, and The Classical Experience (2009), a project which targeted schools. In October 2010 he performed Tramuntana in Washington DC, together with Sarah Spiteri, as part of the Kids Euro Festival, which performance was repeated for Żigużajg, Malta’s first ever Children’s Festival in 2011.

Alexander is currently working on a Phd in Music Composition with Napier University, Edinburgh. He is also currently a board member for St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity.
!

Alexander Vella Gregory

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