Paolino Vassallo Messa da Requiem

[Alan Howe]

Here an excerpt from Vassallo's Requiem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYtwrsWqRsI

[Mark Thomas]

That's an impressive piece, I'd certainly like to hear the rest of his Requiem if that Dies Irae is at all representative.

[Alan Howe]

Here's the Introduzione e Kyrie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgbJ7jbp-RY

There's also a recording of his Grande Messa:



It can be downloaded here:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8073993--grande-messa

[Ilja]

Meanwhile, I've gotten in touch with the conductor of the Messa da Requiem, Christopher Muscat (a composer himself, by the way). According to him, it was recorded for TV but never released on CD. I will query him about getting a copy with the intent of sharing it here.

On Youtube, there are two more movements in addition to the Dies Irae Alan linked to:

   
• Introït (link)
• Kyrie (link)

More information about the Requiem can be found here. The performance on YT took place in Valletta's stunning Co-Cathedral (so named because the "official" and only slightly less impressive cathedral is in the old capital, Mdina).


Edit: it seems that this comment coincided with Alan's. I can recommend Vassallo's Grande Messa, although the orchestral playing in particular is not of the same calibre as in the Requiem.

[Mark Thomas]

There's also a recording of his Grande Messa

It's available for streaming on Spotify, too.

[mikehopf]

There is also a recording on Gega of motets by Nani , Bugeja  and Vassallo . The Cd is called Tenebrae and is also on Qobuz.

[Mark Thomas]

I've at last got around to listening to Vassallo's Grand Mass and what an enjoyable work it turns out to be. As one might expect, the recording isn't top notch but the work is enthusiastically performed and turns out to be a gorgeously melodic piece in a quasi-operatic style, reminiscent of both Verdi's Requiem and Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass. A perfect antidote to being stuck in a traffic jam on an already difficult morning...

[eschiss1]

From Requiem Survey, his mass for the dead was composed in 1893, and his own vita are 1856-1923. Along with Camilleri he is almost (maybe actually?) the only Maltese composer I think I've heard of, to date, but that speaks more about me, unfortunately.