THE LAST PAGAN RITES

BRONIUS KUTAVIČIUS The Last Pagan Rites, oratorio for soprano, choir, organ and horns

Kantiléna, children’s choir at Filharmonie Brno
choirmaster Michal Jančík

When Moravian Autumn 2017 presented the oratorio The Last Pagan Rites by Lithuanian composer Bronius Kutavičius, the concert was described as one of the biggest events of the entire festival. In 2021, Moravian Autumn performed the work again as a special tribute to the composer, who died shortly before the festival started. Even then, the performance was met with great interest. The audience’s success and the enthusiasm of the Kantiléna Children’s Choir for performing the work made The Last Pagan Rites a permanent Moravian Autumn programme item and tradition: the work was again performed to great interest and success in 2023 and is scheduled for 2025: this time, however, for the first time in a recently discovered and made accessible architectural gem – Brno’s historic water towers, whose acoustics and almost temple-like architecture will undoubtedly enhance the effect of this evocative oratorio by Kutavičius and offer it in a new context.