On 1 August 2022, Klaipėda State Musical Theatre presented a special gift to the residents and guests of Klaipėda, which is celebrating its jubilee. The theatre marked the city’s 770th birthday with the world premiere of Alvidas Remesa’s oratorio “The Saga of Memelburg”, opening the programme of the 2nd Klaipėda Festival.

“The oratorio, consisting of an introduction and seven movements, was written for symphony orchestra brass and percussion, mixed choir, soloists (discant, soprano, tenor, baritone), solo instruments – violin, cello, birbina and keyboard. Among its main characters, Heinrich, Bishop of Courland, and Eberhard of Zain, Komtur of the castle, are also Memele. This is the ancient name of the river Nemunas, which has taken on the symbolic form of a feminine element. In the work, we didn’t try to follow the historical chronology of Western Lithuania, but to present a human, romanticised version of the town’s foundation. At the end of the oratorio, a document will be read – the will of the city’s founder, Franciscan Bishop Heinrich of Lücelburg,” the composer said about his latest work.