The Brocktorffs, Composers and Society in 19th-century Malta

Speaker: Dr Anna Borg Cardona
Language: English

About the Lecture:

The 19th century was a time of significant change and innovation. Lithography was introduced into Malta and embraced by local artists, including the Brocktorffs. Improvements in the pianoforte led to the impressive increase in music outlets in Valletta, and the growth of the amateur performer. At the same time composers recognised an opportunity to publish their own music for the growing local market. They chose the Brocktorff Press. Nothing could provide a more fascinating mirror of the age, or better expose the influential individuals in Malta’s society, than this salon music intended largely for local consumption.

About the Speaker:

Anna Borg Cardona, Ph.D Music (University of Southampton, 2018), author of A Musical Legacy: Malta-related music found in foreign libraries (2002), Daqq Għana u Żfin Malti (2007), Musical Instruments of the Maltese Islands (2014), Musical Culture and the Chitarraro Mattheo Morales in Seventeenth-Century Malta (2022), Music Printing by the Brocktorff Lithographers 1832-1893 (2025). Curator of several exhibitions, including the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti exhibition Music in Malta: From Prehistory to Vinyl (2019). Contributed several entries to the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (2014). Founder of the Ġukulari Ensemble that performs Malta’s music, placing it within its historical and social context.

Kindly RSVP by emailing ou******@na******.org. Following the lecture, we warmly invite you to the courtyard to enjoy some light refreshments.

This lecture is kindly supported by The Alfred Mizzi Foundation.