First chance to listen to the beautiful sound of this restored church organ from Sunderland as it is played in its new Maltese home

And here it is. Listen as the former Holy Trinity grand organ rings out in majestic style in the aisles of the Basilica of Christ the King church in Paola – and there is more to come.

Incredibly, this is a mere one eighth of the organ being played. Four of the 38 registers in the organ were being played in the clip.

Further work is expected to take place in October, when the Maltese weather cools.

The priest in charge, Father Marc Andre Camilleri, told the Echo: “We need to wait until it cools down a bit in October to do the re-tuning as it is too hot to do it now.”

The former Holy Trinity Church organ travelled 2,000 miles from Sunderland before arriving in Malta in May last year.

A lot of restoration was needed on the organ which had sections which dated from the 18th to 20th centuries.

The painstaking process included cataloguing all the components for cleaning and restoration. Once everything was clean and repaired, organ builder, Giuseppe Mastrovaleria was tasked with putting the organ back together again.

There has also been a new addition to the Sunderland organ. Contra bombarde pipes have been fitted en chamade – meaning they have been fitted horizontally and they project out in to the church, giving a commanding sound.

Although, the work is ongoing, it is close to completion. Father Marc added: “The facade still needs to go in but that is the very last thing.”

The last music played on the organ was Blaenwern, a Welsh tune used for the hymn Love Divine All Loves Excelling, written by Charles Wesley.

The Maltese community has already vowed that this will be the first thing which is played on the organ when it is officially fully restored.

Project manager David Jenkins said the completion of the restoration could be realised in October if ‘all goes well’.

And the anticipated concert to celebrate the restoration of a piece of history could be held next Spring.

In the meantime, he said, anyone from Sunderland – who was planning to go to Malta and wanted to see the organ – would be ‘welcomed with open arms,” said David.