On April 13, the House of Organ and Chamber Music hosted the premiere of Stabat Mater by Karl Jenkins. In Lviv this work was performed for the first time. It was performed by Galician Chamber Choir «Yevshan», accompanied by the People’s Symphony Orchestra of Lviv Polytechnic under the direction of Roman Kreslenko, with the participation of soloists Iryna Semeniuk and Tamila Mamedova.
Welsh composer and conductor Karl Jenkins is well known to music fans. With his music he promotes multiculturality and has a recognizable style, close to a crossover with elements of ethno, jazz and chill-out. Jenkins wrote Stabat Mater in 2008. This piece incorporates Middle Eastern folk motifs with Western-European music and the Gregorian chants. Therefore, the orchestra features wind and percussion instruments. Together with the canonical Latin text, Jenkins presents fragments and translations in English, Aramaic, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew.
Great virtuoso conquered the hearts of the public. The audience was silent – everybody was listening carefully not to miss anything. In order to see the whole picture, it was forbidden to applaud between the parts not to violate the harmony of perception. It was great to see a lot of young people and children in the hall. It was not just a long-awaited premiere, but a real chill-out for the soul.