Brocktorff Project - Music Printing

  COMING SOON!  Music Printing by the Brocktorff Lithographers, 1832 - 1893 After years of research, this publication is reaching completion and I am extremely grateful for the funding awarded to me by the National Book Council's Malta Book Fund 2023 in support of its publication by Midsea Books.  The nineteenth century was an exciting period of Malta's social history, and the sheet music printed locally is a wonderful mirror of the age! The publication opens a window onto society in Malta during this period  - We discover the composers who printed their work at the Brocktorff press; we gain access into the drawing rooms and we visualise the people who performed these compositions.  The rise of the amateur musician naturally created a demand for outlets. There was a large number of music shops, mostly in Valletta, selling and displaying this sheet music in shop windows.  ...... STAY TUNED!

 AN EVENING IN THE SALON GUKULARI ENSEMBLE 13 May 2025 We've created a little memory of the performance given at Palazzo de La Salle, Valletta. The music performed was all printed in Malta by the Brocktorff family of artist/lithographers, and forms part of the Brocktorff Project. You will hear snippets by Dr Paolo Nani, Augusto Testaferrata Abela, Alessandro Curmi. View on the Gukulari facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/142035063931 Thanks to APS Bank, Ganado Associates and Mr Robert von Brockdorff for making the evening possible. Thanks to Massimo Denaro for putting the video together for us.  We hope you will enjoy it! 

  THANK YOU to all those who attended th e Ġukulari Concert - An Evening in the Salon at Palazzo de La Salle. We enjoyed taking you through the music composed by Maltese composers and published locally at the Brocktorff Press in the 19th century. All the music was created for Malta's drawing rooms during the British period. It was mostly lively dance music - Waltzes, Quadrilles, Mazurkas and Polkas that were enjoyed by all during their frequent social evenings. Now we rarely have the opportunity to hear this music! Well done to the performers - Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta (harp), Ramona Zmmit Formosa (piano and flute) and Silvio Zammit (flute). Our thanks go to APS Bank, Ganado Advocates and Mr Robert von Brockdorff for their part financing of this performance and for supporting us throughout the Brocktorff Project. Thanks also to Michael Borg Cardona for the poster and to Massimo Denaro for the photograph.

The Exhibition ' In Harmony: 19th-Century Music Printing in Malta'   5 April - 4 May 2025  at the Gozo Cittadella Cultural Centre. Curated by Anna Borg Cardona and Joseph Calleja. Part of Gaulitana Festival of Music 2025 Read more:  https://x2.timesofmalta.com/20250321/sunday-circle/in-harmony-19th-century-music-printing-in-malta/                                              https://abcmusicmuseum.blogspot.com/

I N HARMONY: 19th CENTURY MUSIC PRINTING IN MALTA in The Gaulitana Festival of Music 2025 A rare occasion to view sheet music printed by the Brocktorff lithographers throughout the month of April 2025.  This printed music is above all a wonderful mirror of the age.  It provides us with a glimpse of Malta's society during the British period.  We enter the drawing rooms or the Maltese 'sala' where the music was enjoyed, often by amateur musicians. Compositions were mostly fashionable dances of the time, such as quadrilles, waltzes, mazurkas, gavottes and polkas, as well as transcriptions of operatic arias. Do pop in and have a look! Free entrance. Open Every day including Sundays from 9.00am to 4.30pm until Sunday 4 May 2025. 𝐔𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝑰𝒏 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒚: 19𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒂 showcases rare examples of music covers printed by the Brocktorff family. Curated by ...