Soċjeta Mużikali Banda Vittoriosana San Lawrenz

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History

Soċjeta Mużikali Banda Vittoriosana San Lawrenz A.D.1883

A Short History of the Musical Society “Soċjeta Mużikali Banda Vittoriosana San Lawrenz” at Birgu, Malta

Foundation and Acquisition of Palazzo Huesca

The History of music in the feast of St Lawrence in Vittoriosa goes back several centuries to times where musicians used to walk in front of the standard marking the procession. This is known through ancient iconography showing the procession of St Lawrence as being one of the oldest on the island.

After the arrival of the Knights the procession was always preceded by musicians who often where sailors, and the tradition continued even after the arrival of the British in the beginning of the nineteenth century, where they supplied musicians for the procession from their military bands to take part in the feast of St Lawrence. It was this case that started the precedent of military bands being involved in local feasts, which kept going on for a long period of time after the initial years of British rule. Following that, military bands were participating in feasts of patron saints all over the Maltese Islands.

This inspired some Maltese citizens to start organizing musical societies. Around 1858 in ‘Strada Palazzo Antico del Governatore’, in those times also known as Jews Street, a number of men from Vittoriosa began meeting with Band Director Indri Grima to start learning music on contemporary instruments. This group continued to improve its level and in 1863, a house was rented in ‘Strada Porta Maggiore’ with the aim of having a prominent place in the city. Also, the band was being known by its nickname ‘TA’ LJUN’ (The Lions’). This was the start of a musical society which unluckily had to be disbanded in 1868 due to an outbreak of cholera in Malta. However, after this plague passed, Mr Giuseppe Portelli reunited this Musical Society which this time had a Palazzo inMro. Artz mal-Banda Wara it-Tielet Kunċert fit-Tejatru Rjali the city’s main square. Here the society started being called ‘L- UNIONE’ and in 1878 a hymn was composed and dedicated to the organisers, Mr Farrugia and Mr Cesareo. This Square was the heart of the Vittoriosa where a numerous number of people resided. From these premises, the band ‘Tal-Palma’ started performing programmes, such as at ‘Santu Kruċ’ in Valletta in 1885.

In 1911 the Society’s premises were in a house in Nr 40 ‘Strada Brittania’, nowadays ‘Triq Hilda Tabone’. By the Act signed on 24th October in front of Notary Neriku Saydon, this house was rented to the society. Since the society kept growing, especially during the tenure of Musical Director Giovanni Giumarra, the hard working committee thought of moving its premises to a better suited location in the heart of the city, and a palazzo owned by the Architect Soler in the Main Square, which he had recently renovated was chosen, and since the Architect was an admirer of the society, a deal was was struck and the committee went on to purchase Nos 10,11 and 12 in Piazza Vittoriosa as the home of the Society.

100th years Anniversary and the 80s decade

In 1983 on the 100th anniversary from its foundation, the society organised a large number of activities spread throughout the year, and Nar Sinkronizzat mal-Mużika waqt il-Vittoriosa in Festaone of the main events during the celebrations was a vocal and instrumental program performed by the society’s musicians in the main square on the 10th of August, the liturgical feast of St Lawrence. On the day of St Cecilia in 1987, St Lawrence Band Club of Vittoriosa was chosen to perform a Musical Programme in the Manoel Theatre. Among the pieces executed under the baton of Musical Director Schembri were works by Paolino Vassallo, Ġiuseppe Giumarra, Bazzini and Tchaikovsky. Undoubtlessly, 1984 was a year to be remembered for this city when the Vittoriosa Regatta Club won the Regatta Shield for the first time on 8th September and the society took pride in participating in the celebrations that followed.

900 yrs Anniversary of the Vittoriosa parish and aftermath

1990 was the 900th Anniversary of the Parish Church, and apart from performing multiple times during the Musical Accademia in the Parish Church on 30th July, where it performed pieces by Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Kan. Fenech, Mro.Salvino Fabri, Mro.Paolo Schembri and the famous Innu lil San Lawrenz for Choir, Tenor and Bass written by the previous Musical Director Mro. Hector H. Dalli. To commemorate the 50th anniversary from the return of the statue of St Lawrence back to Vittoriosa at the end of World War II, a vocal and instrumental accademia was performed in the Parish Church on Thursday 29th July 1994, where works by Bazzini, Mascagni, Korsakov, Rozsa, Puccini, Dalli and Musical Director Paul Schembri were performe

During the past few years the society’s reputation increased further thanks to musical programmes performed in various venues, as well as performances on the 7th of August in Victory Square on the society’s Artistic Band Stand. In 2005 the society performed a programme of works composed exclusively by Musical Director Paul Schembri to celebrate his 25th anniversary of musical director of our band club. In 2006 an accademia was performed to commemorate the 100 years anniversary from the death of Kanonku Dun Alwiġ Fenech.

Organisation

No	Band Master	From	Until
01	Mro. Andrea Grima	1862	1867
02	Mro. Paolino Vassallo	1867	1883
03	Mro. Ġiuseppe Portelli	1883	1884
04	Mro. Ignazio Catania	1884	1885
05	Mro. Carmelo Abela	1885	1889
06	Mro. Gaetano Grech	1889	1905
07	Mro. Chev. Alfred P.Hare	1905	1906
08	Mro. Durante Magri Grech	1906	1907
09	Mro. Publio Borg	1907
10	Mro. Ġiovanni Giumarra	1907	1924
11	Mro. Paċifico Scicluna	1924	1927
12	Mro. Carl Maria Artz	1927
13	Mro. Paċifico Scicluna	1927	1930
14	Mro. Ġiovanni Giumarra	1930	1936
15	Mro. Paċifico Scicluna	1936	1952
16	Mro. Hector Dalli	1952	1980
17	Mro. Schembri Paul	1980	2015
18	Mro. Jonathan Abela	2015

No	Name of President	From	Until
01	Lorenzo Vella	1881	1889
02	Pawlu Lanzon	1890	1896
03	Enrico Francica	1897	1898
04	Kelin Soler	1899	1900
05	Ġuże Muscat Azzopardi	1901	1902
06	Dr. Alfredo Parnis LL.D.	1903	1906
07	Dr. Robert Bonello M.D.	1907	1914
08	Dr. William Soler LL.D.	1915	1927
09	Carmelo Camilleri Lanzon	1928	1929
10	Dr.William Harding LL.D. B., Litt.	1930	1931
11	Dr. Lorenzo Casha M.D.	1932	1933
12	Dr. Ġiovanni Calleja LL.D.	1934	1948
13	Dr.Louis A.Buttigieg M.B.	1949
14	Dr.Paul Mallia LL.D., B.A., K.S.S.	1950	1987
15	Lawrence V.Farrugia	1987	2019
16	Bjorn Callus	2019

Recorded releases (LPs, Cassettes and CDs)

No	Name of Cassettes	Year	Marches	Funeral Marches	Waltzes	Others
01	Festive Marches 1983	1983	*
02	Festive Marches 1985	1985	*
03	Festive Marches 1987	1987	*
04	Festive Marches 1990	1990	*
05	Festive Marches 1992	1992	*
06	Festive Marches 1993	1993	*
07	Festive Marches 1996	1996	*
08	Festive Marches 1998	1998	*
09	Festive Marches 2000	2000	*
10	Festive Marches 2001	2001	*

No	Name of Cd's	Year	Marches	Funeral Marches	Waltzes	Other
01	Millennju 2000	2000	*
02	Festive Marches 2002	2002	*
03	Festive Marches 2005	2005	*
04	Festive Marches 2008 (Double Album)	2008	*
05	Festive Marches 2011	2011	*

No	Name of Cd's	Year	Marches	Funeral Marches	Waltzes	Other
01	Funeral Marches 2001	2001		*
02	Funeral Marches 2005	2005		*
03	Funeral Marches & Waltzes 2008 (Double Cd)	2008		*	*
04	Getsemani 2014	2014		*