VIA SANCTA New Testament oratorios world premiere commissioned by the festival
JIŘÍ M. PROCHÁZKA Maria apud sepulcrum
ONDŘEJ MÚČKA Emmaus
Performes
JIŘÍ M. PROCHÁZKA Maria apud sepulcrum
Kristýna Fílová soprano I
Zuzana Badárová soprano II
Lucie Karafiátová alto
Ondřej Holub tenor I
Ondřej Múčka tenor II
Jiří M. Procházka bass
Ensemble Nova cantio
ONDŘEJ MÚČKA Emmaus
Kristýna Fílová soprano I
Zuzana Badárová soprano II
Zuzana Petrasová alto
Ondřej Holub tenor I
Ondřej Múčka tenor II
Jiří M. Procházka bass
Ensemble Nova cantio
The concert will be performed without intermission.
Tickets for this concert can be purchased at a 40% discount together with tickets for the concert VIA SANCTA: OBĚŤ / Old Testament Oratorios, which will take place on 2/*4 at the Jesuit Church.
The second part of the oratorio diptych Via sancta (The Holy Way), commissioned by the festival, symbolically opens the Easter octave and develops the central Easter theme of resurrection. It transports listeners from Old Testament themes to New Testament stories. Jiří Miroslav Procházka’s oratorio Maria apud sepulcrum is based on biblical quotations from Isaiah’s prophecy, and his music follows the transformation from silence and pain to bright rays of hope and joy. The chamber ensemble creates a sound architecture on the border between prayer, drama, and meditation. The composition is tonally and thematically linked to the chamber oratorio Emmaus. In it, Ondřej Múčka works with themes such as the celebration of the very first Eucharist in the history of the Church, the breakdown of prophetic messages about God’s servant who underwent death on the cross for the redemption of mankind, and the journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus and back.
Green Thursday brings the first part of the oratorio diptych Via sancta (The Holy Way), which loosely follows on from the successful project Nova cantio – Tenebrae, presented during the 31st Easter Festival of Sacred Music. Over two evenings (April 2 and 7), four interconnected oratorios based on original librettos drawn from Latin texts of key biblical stories will be performed. Although the project will take place on two dates, the dramaturgy aims to present it to the audience as a single whole divided into two spiritual stops, rather than as two separate concerts, and to create a dramaturgical bridge between the Old and New Testaments. Maundy Thursday will be devoted to Old Testament stories and the theme of sacrifice: in his oratorio Abraham, Tomáš Krejčí adapts the text of the Book of Genesis and the story of Abraham, the forefather of three religions, whose faith was tested many times by God. Lukáš Hurník’s oratorio The Israelites in Pharaoh’s Egypt transports listeners to the Book of Exodus, whose main character is Moses, commissioned by the Lord to lead the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt. This adaptation of the story also turns attention to the pharaoh, a ruler whose unlimited power allows him to change his opinions and decisions unpredictably. The inclusion of the first part of the project in the framework of the dark hours is no coincidence – the Old Testament stories that form its backbone are part of the biblical readings at the Easter Vigil and recall the roots of faith from which the Christian tradition grows.
