Reconciliation
This year, the movable feasts of Easter fall in the latter half of April, some weeks after the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March). According to tradition, this was when the words “let it be done” (fiat) were first heard, in this case said by Mary. On Maundy Thursday, we remember similar words spoken by Jesus, “not my will, but thine, be done”. In these words, expressed at a time of extreme suffering, we hear a message of reconciliation. That phrase “let it be done” reminds us that reconciliation is not necessarily to be understood as a passive submission, but also as a readiness and determination to accept and fulfil one’s mission.
The Easter Festival of Sacred Music will be held during the Holy and Easter Weeks, offering a repertoire ranging from Mediaeval chant to contemporary works, performed in Brno’s churches and other venues. For the first time in Brno we will hear Arvo Pärt’s famous St John Passion, Oscar Peterson’s jazz Easter Suite, a Baroque oratorio by Marc’Antonio Ziani and Diego Ortiz’s Renaissance vespers.
Exceptionally, the ritual of the Tenebrae service will leave its traditional venue of the Jesuit Church and present various forms of Mediaeval chant in the unique space of Brno’s restored water cisterns. Everyone connected with the festival is looking forward to welcoming audiences to every event, exploring the meaning of the words “let it be done” and discovering the varied character of sacred music and its message.
Vladimír Maňas
One of the festival’s programmers
