Celebrating Jane Austen – a music-literary event
The life and musical world of Jane Austen will be celebrated in a special lunchtime event on Tuesday 17th March 2026 at 12:30pm at Our Lady of Victory Church. Marking 250 years since the birth of one of literature’s most beloved novelists, this evocative music-literary event offers audiences a rare opportunity to explore the sounds that shaped Austen’s world and imagination.
Although best known for her six major novels, Austen was also an accomplished amateur pianist, and music formed an essential part of her social and domestic life, this reflecting her ideas in her fictional novels. References to performance, practice and musical taste appear frequently in her writing, reflecting the cultural importance of music in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century England. This thoughtfully curated programme brings to life composers and pieces known to have been admired, performed or mentioned within her circle.
Among them is George Frideric Handel, whose Water Music Austen herself mentions, revealing her familiarity with one of the era’s most celebrated works. The elegance and dramatic clarity of Christoph Willibald Gluck, the refined pianistic style of Johann Baptist Cramer, and the graceful charm of Ignaz Pleyel reflect the musical tastes cultivated in the drawing rooms of Austen’s time. The programme also acknowledges the enduring brilliance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose music was widely admired in England.
Talented and versatile pianist Ramona Zammit Formosa will bring this repertoire to life, illuminating the sound world that resonated through Austen’s drawing rooms, while narrator Miriam Agius interweaves carefully chosen literary excerpts that reveal how music shapes character, atmosphere and emotion within the novels.
This special lunchtime event promises a refined and engaging tribute — a meeting of melody and literature that honours the artistic sensibility of Jane Austen and the harmonious spirit of her age.
Notes from the Drawing Room: Celebrating Jane Austen - will be held at Our Lady of Victory church, Valletta on Tuesday 17th March 2026 at 12:30pm. Entrance to the concert is at a suggested donation of 1 €13. One can obtain tickets prior to the concert from the venue itself or by email: baroccobookings@gmail.com/baroccomalta@gmail.com or phone 79680952.