The Stockholm Academic Male Chorus (Stockholms Studentsångarförbund) performed, “Ante luciferum genitus,” by Jacobus Gallus on 30 October 2009, at Saint Publius Church in Floriana, Malta as part of the Third International Malta Choir Festival of Sacred and Secular Music.
“Ante luciferum genitus,” was written by Jacob Handl, who went by the alias Jacobus Gallus. He was a Cistercian monk, of the Melk Abbey, in Lower Austria. Handl became a member of the Viennese court chapel in 1574, and was choirmaster to the Bishop of Olomouc between 1579 and 1585. The text of the piece in English is as follows:
Born before the morning star (Lucifer)
and before the ages
Our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ,
Has appeared this day to the world.
Alleluia.
The Stockholms Studentsångarförbund (Stockholm Academic Male Chorus) is an amateur choir that was created in 1905. Today, the choir has 54 active members consisting of both students and graduates of all academic disciplines.
The choir director at the time of this performance was Jerica Gregorc Bukovec, from Slovenia. Ms. Bukovec graduated from the Ljubljana Academy of Music. During her studies in Ljubljana, she spent a year in Malmö, Sweden, in the choral conducting class of Dan-Olof Stenlund. She continued her studies at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, where she completed her master’s degree under the guidance of Anders Eby.
Publius of Malta received the Apostle Paul during his shipwreck on Malta in 60 A.D. as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. According to Scripture, Paul cured Publius' dysentery-afflicted father:
"In the vicinity of that place were lands belonging to a man named Publius, the chief of the island. He welcomed us and received us cordially as his guests for three days. It so happened that the father of Publius was sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and, after praying, laid his hands on him and healed him. After this had taken place, the rest of the sick on the island came to Paul and were cured. They paid us great honor and when we eventually set sail, they brought us the provisions we needed." — Acts of the Apostles 28:7–10, New American Bible
Saint Publius was the first Bishop of Malta and one of the first Bishops of Athens. According to Maltese Christian tradition, Publius' conversion to Christianity led Malta to become the first Christian nation in the West. Publius was martyred in the year 125 during the persecution of Emperor Hadrian. Publius was canonized by the church in the year 1634. The church named after him in Floriana was consecrated by Bishop Vincenzo Labini on 20 March 1792. It became a parish in March 1844, after a decree issued by Pope Gregory XVI. Part of the church's façade and its dome were destroyed by aerial bombardment during World War II, when it was hit by bombs in March and April of 1942, killing 16. Reconstruction of the church was carried out by the architect Gustav Vincenti, and was completed in the late 1950s.
