Paolino Vassallo

Paolino Vassallo (born 24 July 1856 in Cospicua - deceased 20 January 1923 in Valletta) was a Maltese composer.

[2] He founded his Musical Institute in Valletta in 1885[1] and was appointed the maestro di cappella at Mdina Cathedral in 1902.

[3] He refused the Grand Prix de Rome to keep his British nationality, and returned to Malta in 1888; here, he met his wife Marianna.

His most famous work for the stage is arguably Edith Cavell, a melodrama in three acts to a libretto by poet Alfonso Giglio.

It received its première at the Teatru Rjal (Valletta, Malta) on 21 March 1927, four years after Vassallo's death, and was an immediate sensational triumph.