Saturday, May 28, 21 p.m. The Museum of Church Heritage and the contemporary music festival "Muzika in Space" invite Vilnius residents and city guests to hear for the first time the sound of the big bells of the Vilnius Cathedral bell tower at the "Hexameronas" concert. The bells of the Vilnius Cathedral are a liturgical instrument for prayer. Usually they sound inviting to St. Mass, during solemn processions, important events of religious life. This time, commemorating the XNUMXth anniversary of the installation of the bells, for the first time in the history of the city, a piece specially created for these bells will sound, exploring their sonic nature and possibilities in an unusual way. Concert intended to commemorate the XNUMXth anniversary of the installation of these bells, as well as to support Ukraine's struggle for freedom.
The composers of the piece, Matas Drukteinis, Agnė Matulevičiūtė and Gintaras Sodeika, draw their inspiration from the theological concept of "hexameron". They transfer the world creation process described in the biblical tradition, which describes how God created the world in six days, to a composition performed by six performers in an unusual way - without the use of bell cores.
The old great bells of the cathedral disappeared during the Second World War and their further fate is unknown; to this day, only the two smaller ones that announce the beats of the clock have survived. in 2002 The Archdiocese of Cologne donated six new bells to Vilnius Cathedral and the city. Vilnius in the cathedral square they were consecrated and raised to the tower. According to the old tradition, each church bell has a name, a symbolic sign and an inscription in Latin. In gratitude to the then archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Meisner, the largest bell was named St. in the name of Joakim. Other bells are given the names of patrons of Lithuania and Vilnius: St. Kazimierz, St. Stanislaus, St. Elena, St. Anna and Pal. Jurgis Matulaitis. The largest of them, St. Joachim, weighing 2 kg, is the smallest pal. Jurgis Matulaitis - 595 kg.
In ancient times, bells were rung not only on church occasions, but also to announce news to the city - both happy and tragic. The bells rang to announce royal events, fires, and the beginning and end of war. The authors, organizers and performers of the concert, expressing solidarity with the fighter Ukraine, hopes that this new sound, like in ancient times, will pray and loudly announce the victory of Ukraine to everyone.
