The participants gathered in an open-air location next to magazine number 13 of the Vladivostok fortress on Russky Island. There, the jazz choir of the Sverdlovsk Children’s Philharmonic, accompanied by a symphony orchestra and soloists from the New Opera Theater (Moscow), performed Adiemus by the British composer and multi-instrumentalist Karl Jenkins.
Guests will remember the event for a long time. Its place is a fortification art object of world importance.
– The fortress was not built for war, but to preserve peace. What we are experiencing today is a story that is unfolding before our eyes, that we are creating together. In order for a feeling of happiness and joy to arise in a person’s soul, stories about a glorious military past are not enough. However, sooner or later a military reenactment festival may take place. But to make the fortress sound, we decided to choose good music performed by talented people. Therefore, this Adiemus is a penetrating piece of music that gives rise to a dream of universal peace and harmony,” said Arsenyev Museum director Viktor Shalay about the goal of the project.
Adiemus’s voice is written in a non-existent language. According to the composer’s idea, the vocalists play with their voices and the orchestra plays with them. The author wanted to show that with the help of music people can become united and friendly.
– We have chosen the six best, in our opinion, fragments of Adiemus and the Mass of Peace in Latin. By the way, the title of the work was invented by the teacher, but it turned out that it is in Latin and means: we are going on the right path. I think this is very symbolic,” commented Dmitry Volosnikov, chief conductor of the New Opera.
50 members of the group of different ages arrived in Vladivostok. As they sang, they moved rhythmically. It’s unusual, but this is a jazz choir! According to the director, the composer considered this idea as the best to realize his plan.
The sounds of a bell were organically woven into Adiemus’ melody at certain moments. Especially for the festival, a mobile bell tower with nine bells was built in the Monastery of San Daniel. Campanologist Vasily Sadovnikov, one of the leading Russian specialists in bell ringing, flew to Vladivostok from Yaroslavl and is ready to teach this art to the whole world.
This, according to the organizers, is the voice of the fortress, which did not fire a single shot, but defended the city with its strength. As Victor Shalay noted, on the territory of the fortress there were Orthodox churches, so the strength of the city lay not only in the power of weapons, but also in the power of the spirit. Thus came the idea of filling the festival with spiritual sound.
Photo: United State Museum-Far Eastern History Reserve named after him. VC. Arseniev
During the day, intensive “artistic preparation” took place near magazine No. 13 of the Vladivostok Fortress: excursions, master classes for children and adults on drawing, the art of bell ringing and the basics of navigation. At the beginning of the concert a storm broke out, but an hour later, more than two thousand spectators were still listening to the legendary suite, rewarding its performers with thunderous applause and shouts of “bravo.”
The large-scale festival “Vladivostok Fortress” will last until the end of 2024. It will include concerts, exhibitions, master classes, conferences and meetings with interesting people. By the way, at one of the concerts the anthem of the Vladivostok fortress will be played for the first time. It is written by the composer Vladimir Martynov.
Photo: United State Museum-Far Eastern History Reserve named after him. VC. Arseniev
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The Vladivostok Fortress is a unique complex monument of the history of Russian military engineering of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
More than a hundred of its objects are scattered along the hills and coast of the Muravyov-Amur Peninsula and the Russian Island. It is the most fortified and powerful naval fortress of its time and consists of more than 800 fortification and infrastructure facilities, including underground galleries.
The defense line of the Vladivostok fortress was 150 kilometers. It played an important role in ensuring the security of the eastern borders, first of the Russian Empire and then of the Soviet Union. Today it has lost its defensive significance and has become part of the cultural and historical heritage of Russia.
