Voices of Edification. Calls for Salvation – an Oratorio (Pilgrims to Saint Parascheva) by Viorel Munteanu

Abstract

After the glorious reception of Voices of Putna – a key contribution to the genre – Viorel Munteanu makes now a new “offering of sound and letter”, a “different” sort of eulogy for the Orthodox Byzantine monody, meaning to encourage us to embark on the difficult journey of salvation together with the endless train of “pilgrims to Saint Parascheva”. It is, thus, a daring compositional effort that will be spiritually experienced by both its creator and its public, from the first contact with the graceful resonance of the title to the last shimmer of sound at the end of the final scene. If one considers the Orthodox art and its spirit, Viorel Munteanu’s Oratorio for Saint Parascheva is more than a creative act; it is an act of faith, of hope and of love, “a prayer to”, and “joy in”, Jesus Christ; it is living tradition and self-giving truth, by which we partake to one of the most memorable unions of Christian experiences and symbols.