Charles Camilleri

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Charles Camilleri (born September 7, 1931 in Ħamrun , † January 3, 2009 in Naxxar ) was a Maltese composer .

Life

He came from a family of musicians. His first compositions, which he wrote as a teenager, were heavily influenced by Maltese folklore. As an autodidact , he played a number of instruments, primarily the piano and the accordion . Although his musical talent already appeared during high school, a legal career initially seemed to be destined for him. When his family emigrated to Australia in 1950, he began working as a teacher for a short time. A period followed in which he toured as a piano player in an ensemble through Hong Kong, Japan and Korea to San Francisco.

Camilleri went to London in 1954 and was discovered there by the impresario Harold Fielding . Charles Camilleri went on tour with the likes of Hoagy Carmichael , Frank Sinatra , Tommy Steele and Frankie Laine . He also assisted Malcolm Arnold in 1957 with the arrangements for the music for the film Die Brücke am Kwai . In 1959 he moved to Canada to study composition at the University of Toronto . From 1965 he lived and worked as a composer in London.

From 1977 to 1983 Camilleri was Professor of Composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and from 1992 to 1996 he was Professor of Music at the University of Malta . Camilleri was a member of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts from 2003 to 2006 .

Private life

Charles Camilleri was married to his wife Doris Vella Camilleri , a writer, and had two children, a daughter and a son.

Services

Charles Camilleri composed more than 300 works for orchestra , chamber ensemble , solo instruments and voice. In 1984 he was the first composer to set an opera libretto in Maltese, Il-Wegħda (German: “The promise”) . The first oratorio in Maltese followed in 1985 , Pawlu ta 'Malta (" Paulus auf Malta"). However, he also wrote light music such as Malta's contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest of 1972 L-imħabba , which came last.

Works (selection)

Compositions

  • Malta Suite (1946)
  • Piano Concerto No. 1 The Mediterranean (1948, revised 1978)
  • Il-Wegħda ( Opera , 1984)
  • Pawlu ta 'Malta (Oratorio, 1985)
  • The Maltese Cross (opera, 2003)
  • New Idea Symphony (2008)

Publications

  • Mediterranean Music (1988)
  • The Folk Music of Malta

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Camilleri, Charles . In: Uwe Jens Rudolf, Warren G. Berg (Ed.): Historical Dictionary of Malta . 2nd Edition. Scarecrow Press, 2010, pp. 51 .
  2. ↑ Kenneth Shenton: Charles Camilleri: Composer who progressed from light music to austere, abstract, modernist works. The Independent , January 27, 2009, accessed October 16, 2019 (obituary).
  3. ↑ a b c d Eric Montfort: Obituary: Charles Camilleri. In: The Guardian . March 27, 2009, accessed October 16, 2019 (English, obituary).
  4. ^ Charles Camilleri. In: And the conductor is ... www.eurovisionartists.nl, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Camilleri, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Maltese composer
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Ħamrun
DATE OF DEATH January 3, 2009
Place of death Naxxar