Kleine Litanei

Kleine Litanei for a cappella mixed choir was created in October 2015, on the commission of the Wien Museum for the reopening of St Virgil’s Chapel in Vienna. On 10 December at the ceremonial opening night Kleine Litanei was premiered by the Arnold Schoenberg Choir and conductor Erwin Ortner, to whom the piece is dedicated.

St Virgil’s Chapel (Virgilkapelle) is a unique Medieval shrine, located in the centre of Vienna, right under Stephansplatz, in front of Stephansdom, 12 metres down. This crypt, built in the 13th century, was originally part of the small St Magdalene Chapel, which was mostly used for funeral services. When the church was destroyed in a fire at the end of the 18th century, St Virgil’s Chapel was lost under the ruins. It was rediscov…

Kleine Litanei for a cappella mixed choir was created in October 2015, on the commission of the Wien Museum for the reopening of St Virgil’s Chapel in Vienna. On 10 December at the ceremonial opening night Kleine Litanei was premiered by the Arnold Schoenberg Choir and conductor Erwin Ortner, to whom the piece is dedicated.

St Virgil’s Chapel (Virgilkapelle) is a unique Medieval shrine, located in the centre of Vienna, right under Stephansplatz, in front of Stephansdom, 12 metres down. This crypt, built in the 13th century, was originally part of the small St Magdalene Chapel, which was mostly used for funeral services. When the church was destroyed in a fire at the end of the 18th century, St Virgil’s Chapel was lost under the ruins. It was rediscovered in 1973 when the new Viennese underground rail was being built and is now operating as a small Medieval museum.

The chapel gets its name from St Virgil, to whom one of the many altars of the chapel was dedicated. Virgil (c. 700–784) was an Irish Benedictine monk, theologian, philosopher and, during the last decades of his life, also the bishop of Salzburg.

Arvo Pärt’s Kleine Litanei humbly addresses this great theologian of the Early Middle Ages and invites everyone to prayer and contemplation. The dramaturgical form of the text consists of traditional payers, compiled by the composer himself.