DAVID MATTHEWS New Fire
PAVEL ZEMEK NOVÁK Symphony No. 5 Sources of Light and Mercy in St. James’s Cathedral in Brno
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN Missa in C

Soloists
Tereza Zimková
Jarmila Vantuchová
Juraj Kuchar
Tomáš Šelc
Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno
choirmaster Petr Fiala
Filharmonie Brno
conductor Jac van Steen

The festival’s closing concert symbolizes the aforementioned singing towards the light. The concert will open with a work written in 2018 by British composer David Matthews, commissioned by the Easter Festival. Both the theme and the composition refer to the motif of bringing light during the ceremonies of Holy Saturday. The exceptionally bright space of St. James’s Church is the theme of the Fifth Symphony by Brno composer Pavel Zemek Novák, written in 2003 for the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in the composer’s typical unison style. The concert and the entire festival will culminate with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Mass in C major. The rare preserved score was purchased for St. James’s Church shortly after its publication in Vienna, and since its first performance in Brno in 1826, the mass has been performed for more than a hundred years.

The concert will be performed without intermission.