AND I SAW A BEAST RISING OUT OF THE SEA

Does humanity truly learn from history? On 29 October, at St. Catherine’s Church in Vilnius, the Jauna Muzika Choir and the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra will present the concert And I Saw a Beast Rising Out of the Sea, in which music becomes a means of exploring war and peace, the wounds left by totalitarianism, the responsibility of the artist, and humanity’s ability to hold on to hope. One of the evening’s highlights will be the premiere of Vaclovas Augustinas’ A Woman Rides the Beast (Antichrist, 24.02.2022).

The concert is part of the international project Music, Memory and European Values. Against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the project revisits the painful experiences of 20th-century Europe and raises a question that has once again become particularly urgent: what happens when the lessons of history remain unlearned?

The programme brings together composers from different generations and backgrounds – Alexandre Tansman, Hanns Eisler, Pēteris Vasks, and Vaclovas Augustinas. Their music emerged under very different circumstances, yet their works are united by the relationship between individuals and the times in which they live – war, ideology, oppression, exile, memory, and the longing for peace.

A special highlight of the concert will be A Woman Rides the Beast (Antichrist, 24.02.2022) by Vaclovas Augustinas, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Jauna Muzika Choir. The work’s title includes the date 24 February 2022, marking the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The evening will open with introductory remarks by Louna Bruder, representing the French organisation Forum Voix Etouffées, which initiated the international project. The concert will feature the Vilnius City Municipality Choir Jauna Muzika, the Vilnius City Municipality St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra, and French baritone Matthieu Walendzik. The performance will be conducted by Vaclovas Augustinas and Modestas Barkauskas.

And I Saw a Beast Rising Out of the Sea is more than a concert about war. It is a musical reflection on humanity in the face of history – on how easily the monsters of the past can return in different forms, and why memory, culture, and art remain essential even when they seem powerless against political and military force.

FREE ADMISSION

ORGANISERS

VšĮ Pax et Bonum
Forum Voix Etouffées CEMUT

PARTNER

Vilnius City Municipality Choir Jauna Muzika

PROJECT FUNDED BY

European Union
Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
Vilnius City Municipality

MEDIA PARTNERS

Bernardinai.lt
LRT