Giuseppe Monterosso
Author of music for wind orchestra of the profane and sacred genre, Monterosso dedicated himself to evolving the taste and style of the Cantata da Chiesa (or sacred), between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in central-southern Italy where it is still practiced, that is, he brought compositional solutions decidedly closer to the genre of opera into the Cantata,[1] as did the Italian-Slovene musician, Aurelio Doncich (1867–1944), his contemporary and friend.
The artistic importance of these actions contributed, in Italy, to recovering the use of the Cantata instead of the Dialogue and the Oratorio (now no longer represented), thus allowing the genre to survive up to the present day, and in Malta, to foster "an innovative spirit [...] that began to hover over all the bands".
For this reason, "The Philharmonic Societies competed continuously to change teachers and instrumental systems" no longer being satisfied with what "the square could offer"[3] and seeking the best among Italian masters such as Angelo Melilli (1856–1913)[4] from Licata and Giovanni Giumarra (1861–1936) from Comiso,[5] at the same time as Monterosso and Doncich.
[7] The fact that "Giuseppe, as a child and adolescent, did not touch a piece of leather, did not hammer a nail, did not resole a shoe" caused a crack in relations with his father, Domenico.
He was fully trained in composition and band instrumentation[11] with the brilliant (he was also an inventor) maestro and conductor Giovanni Tarditi (1857–1935),[12] head of music in the Italian Army headquarters.
He tries his hand at other marches: Speranza by Filippo Angelini, maestro (1868–1885) of the Banda di Velletri, Fatinizta of 1876, Boccaccio of 1879 and Donna Juanita of 1880 written by Franz von Suppé; the public most liked this genre, lively and entertaining.
Two bands performed for the occasion, first, at 18.00, the "King Own" directed by Monterosso, which had in the program Diavoli rossi (symphonic march, E. Rivela), Norma (symphony, Bellini), Il Trovatore (Finale act IV, Verdi), Fedora (act III, Giordano), Iris (Hymn to the Sun, Peter Mascagni); and, secondly, from 8.00 pm, the "Filarmonica La Vallette" directed by Giuseppe Vitaliti, which, among other things, concluded with the Inno La Vallette and God save the king[23] In 1912 Monterosso was invited to direct the Soċjetà Filarmonika Vilhena of Floriana.
[25] Again with the Soċjetà Filarmonika Vilhena he held a concert on the occasion of the closing of the XXIV International Eucharistic Congress in the presence of cardinal Domenico Ferrata, papal legate, held in Malta from 23 to 27 April 1913, at the Piazza di San Publiu in Floriana, interpreting a repertoire composed of works by Xuereb, Bugeja, Verdi, Stradella and Donizetti.
At the end of the evening, the two musical ensembles gave voice to the English anthem God Save the King[28] In the celebrations desired by Pius X for the "XVI Centenary of the peace and freedom of the Church", Giuseppe Monterosso conducted the "Vilhena Band" twice, on 13 and 14 September 1913.
[31] However, in March 1914, Monterosso definitively closed the contract with the Vilhena Society, completing all commitments with this band,[32] then officially debuted with the Prince on 19 April 1914, Easter day.
Between 1914 and 1919 Monterosso was hired to conduct also the King's Own Band due to the internment of Aurelio Doncich in the Maltese prisoner-of-war camp of Cottonera, given its origin from Trieste, then in Austrian territory and therefore enemy of British Malta.
To the one who "artfully sang love to God, to the Saints and to the citizens of Aci Catena": On 5 July 2021, a plaque commemorating Giuseppe Monterosso and his wife Gemma Renucci was placed in the burial chapel under the patronage of the Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament "al Turno".
Hymn to the Holy Madonna of the Chain", idem, 1909), and the great waltz "Le premier amour"[40] ("First love", Livorno 1899) are still played today.
Giuseppe Monterosso's works are freely available in the Archives cited among the Section Sources of page and were written over seventy years ago and have no specific constraints,[46] of them we recall: – Contains: "Dai Fulgidi Vanni Risorge l'aurora" (hymn).
