Francesco Azopardi's Christmas music at the Gozo Cathedral

Abstract

Many were those who have edited Azopardi's works hitherto dormant in the various archives in Malta and Gozo. The objective of this dissertation is not only that of promoting a wider recognition of Azopardi's music, but also to explore and analyse Christmas liturgical music in the eighteenth century and its place in the local liturgical calendar, especially prior to the constitutions published at the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1964. The principal focus of this dissertation is the critical edition of Tecum Principium (Graduale per la notte di Natale), Viderunt Omnes (Graduale per la terza Messa di Natale), and Tui Sunt Coeli (Ojfertorio per la terza Messa di Natale). These compositions are extant in both Cathedral Musical Archives at Mdina (Malta) and at the Gozo Cathedral Musical Archives in Victoria.