On the evening of Good Friday, the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre invites you to a sacred music concert, during which Antonín Dvořák's “Stabat Mater” will be performed (instead of the planned “St. John Passion” by J. S. Bach).
The famous Czech romantic composer, conductor, founder of the national Czech school of composers and pedagogue Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) is a highly respected figure in the history of Czech and world music. “No matter how small a nation may be, it will not perish as long as it has its own art”. These words of Antonín Dvořák became a guiding principle in his life and work. The composer was a deeply religious man who had been writing church music since the very beginning of his career, and it is believed that he began composing his “Stabat Mater” in February 1876, in response to the death of his two-day-old daughter Josefa in August 1875. He returned to the final completion of the composition a year later, when his two surviving children died within a short period of time.
Despite his background as a practicing Catholic, Dvořák's great church works – “Stabat Mater”, “Requiem” or “Te Deum” – were designed to be performed in concert halls rather than during church services. “Stabat Mater” (eng. Standing Mother in Sorrows), inviting us to await the bright Easter morning, is Dvořák's most frequently performed and most widely known work, giving meaning to human faith and spirituality.
