What class! It was Emvin Cremona who designed this striking, brightly-coloured Programme for the Malta Carnival in 1964. Immediately evoking the fantasy of Carnival, a masked Arlecchino holding a long-necked lute is seated far up above the Malta rooftops, well detached from reality.
Carnival that year was inaugurated on Saturday 8th February with the traditional 'Parata', a mock battle which took place every year, only in Carnival. 'The Parata' was performed in the afternoon in the Palace Square Enclosure to the accompaniment of Spiro's Orchestra. This dance had been taking place for hundreds of years. In 1791, the Count of Saint-Priest gave one of the most vivid descriptions of it in his
Malte par un Voyageur Francais.
The
Parata, previously referred to as '
il Battito' is well recorded in the eighteenth century in our Notarial Archives. In 1774, a party of men signed a contract whereby the participants bound themselves to turn up for all rehearsals, to obey their instructor and to perform the 'battito della parata' during the Carnival period wherever necessary. One musician was also present for the contract. He had the responsibility of providing his own group of musicians and ensuring that they abide by the same strict rules.
For more details see Anna Borg Cardona, "The Carnival
Battitu or
Parata in the Eighteenth Century"
Treasures of Malta No 62, (FPM, Easter 2015) 21-26.
