VIA SANCTA Old Testament oratorios world premiere commissioned by the festival
TOMÁŠ KREJČÍ Abraham
LUKÁŠ HURNÍK Israel in Aegypto pharaonis, oratorio based on the Second Book of Moses

Performers:
Tomáš Krejčí /Abraham

Tomáš Krejčí Abraham
Singers:
Kristýna Fílová soprano I
Zuzana Badárová soprano II
Anna Moriová alto
Ondřej Múčka tenor
Jiří M. Procházka bas
Ensemble Nova cantio

Lukáš Hurník / Israel in Aegypto pharaonis

Singers:
Kristýna Fílová sopranno I
Zuzana Badárová soprano II
Anna Moriová alto
Ondřej Holub tenor I
Ondřej Múčka tenor II
Jiří M. Procházka bas

The concert will be performed without intermission.

The concert can be purchased with a 40% discount together with the VIA SANCTA: RESURRECTION concert (April 7 at St. James Church).

Green Thursday brings the first part of the oratorio diptych Via sancta (The Holy Way), which freely 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 Israel in Aegypto pharaonis 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.

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 at the Tomb 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 (The Road to 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.