World famous Maltese composer Charles Camilleri died on Saturday morning. He was 77.

Prof Camilleri’s first composition was a march composed on his eleventh birthday, which was later to be played in the Ħamrun festa.

Prof Camilleri’s first influences were Maltese folk tales and legends, but he was later to move on to more contemporary sounds. In his book Thoughts and Observations on Music, Prof Camilleri wrote, “Order really exists in chaos – everything is presented to us in chaos. The artist does not impose order on chaos but rather discovers the order already present in that chaos”.

Prof Camilleri also composed and conducted film scores, operas, orchestral works, chamber ensembles, concertos, oratorios, and a ballet.

His over 300 compositions, half of which have been recorded, sold all over the world. His piano piece Cantilena is currently being used the the Trinity Guildhall syllabus for grade five piano exams.

Education Minister Dolores Cristina said that Malta has lost a person who greatly honoured it, locally and internationally. His ambition had been to place Maltese culture at the same level as that of countries much bigger than Malta, she said.

Condolences were also expressed by the Nationalist Party, the Labour Party and Alternattiva Demokratika.

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