RECORDINGS 2

CD Song of the Sea-Carlos Bonell Plays Gordon Mizzi

A number of diverse sources influence Gordon Mizzi's musical canvas from the Maltese inspired Variations on a Maltese Theme and Two Anthem Studies, to the Hispanic Tango and Habanera, to the European Madliena Sonata, Song of the Sea, Mazurka and Sonata for Six Mute Swans. These were recorded by Carlos Bonell on the CD 'Song of the Sea-Carlos Bonell Plays Gordon Mizzi' The CD was enthusiastically received by critics and broadcasted by a number of radio stations all over the world, including, the Cowan Collection on BBC Radio 3.

CD Saints and Fireworks

Saints and Fireworks is the second CD of a collection of Gordon Mizzi's music recorded by Carlos Bonell. Some of the works in this collection have connections with Maltese themes but this music does not respect a geographical location being influenced by so many different musical traditions from so many countries that has woven a thread through the lives of its people through the centuries from the Branles de Malte commissioned by the Order of the Knights of St. John in 1551 to the present day.
Gordon Mizzi's Island Scenes are six musical portraits of towns and villages dotting the landscape of the island. The first in this collection is Valletta - Barrakka Gardens. This is named after the capital city built by the Knights of Malta after the Great Siege in 1565 and the Barakka Gardens overlook Malta's magnificent Grand Harbour. San Giljan-After the Feast is a musical snapshot of the winding down of a feast in St. Julian's Bay, with its slow march like music played by bands in village festas. Mdina-Cittą Notabile, is a medieval walled citadel used to be the residence of many of the island's notables and the old capital before 1570. Sliema is a town that developed as a lazy seaside and residential town early in the twentieth century with its old watch tower built during the rule of Grand Master Martin de Redin (1636-1657). The fourth in this series is Comino- The Blue Lagoon. Comino, is a small island off Malta, its north shore surrounded by a sandy lagoon. The dreamy music of this piece evokes the personality of its mare turchino, at times tranquil, at other times turbulent and destructive.  Paceville, the last piece in this collection, is a brash pulsating conurbation of noise, discos, bars, and its subtitle, -Sin City jolts us into the zeitgeist of our century.

 Saints and Fireworks, a piece in two movements vividly represents Malta's village Festas. The first movement is a slow solemn plaintive song followed by a vivace tarantella. Il Maltija (trans. Gordon Mizzi) was a popular dance favourite of both nobles and peasants when the Knights of St. John ruled Malta. It has been considered the national dance of Malta since the early to the middle part of the 19th century and is believed that it was introduced into the islands in the latter part of the 18th century as a court dance. The ceremonial square dance with many formations for eight to sixteen couples was fashionable up to the 1820's but then suffered a decline as a court dance between the years 1844-1875. However, it survived as a folk dance. Two Lullabies:Child Don't Cry,  and Ninna Nanna are arrangements by Gordon Mizzi of vocal cradle songs found in the folk music of Malta and Night Crossing that draws on the palette of the traditional folk music of Malta known as ghana.Three Love Poems: Hula, Lahaina and Hana are influenced by the music from the islands of Hawaii.