Adventný koncertAdvent Concert

This year, the Slovak Chamber Orchestra will also present its Christmas repertoire, and the dramaturgy of its concert has been designed to capture the Advent atmosphere as closely as possible. The Christmas time will be evoked by the overture by Josef Leopold Zvonař, the message of the biblical story will be brought by Magnificat by Vladimir Godár. He works with the text of the oldest complete Slovak translation of the Bible, the so-called Camaldolese Bible, which was written around 1760 by Camaldolese monks in the Red Monastery near Dunajec. “The three parts of the composition are a celebration of the three greatest inventions of music - melody, harmony and polyphony,” admits the composer. The work brings meditation and an attempt to emphasize the continuity of time, in which the coming would not be without the previous one.

The evening will culminate with a work by Jan Jakub Ryba, which, thanks to its imaginative nature, has enjoyed great popularity across the Czech and Slovak public. “...when, as a speaker, he feels wholeheartedly exactly what he is saying. Therein lies the magnetism and hidden sympathy of hearts, a wondrous power which immediately moves the whole congregation to the noblest actions...” Words from the composer's diary characterise the idea which the Czech Christmas Mass truly carries. Instead of a "classical" ceremonial text, the event of Christ's birth, which is treated as a pastorale with epic elements, takes centre stage. Throughout the work, specific stylistic elements inspired by pastoral songs are richly represented.