New York – Carnegie Hall

This concert aims to lead the audience into meditation and contemplation of the Mystery through a selection of pieces from the Beneventan repertoire, all connected by a common thread: the experience of martyrdom in imitation of the life of Christ.

The concert opens with a piece narrating the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, the protomartyr, who dies uttering the same words as Christ on the cross: sed ne statuas illis hoc ad peccatum, quia nesciunt quid faciunt (do not hold this sin against them, for they do not know what they are doing).

In the Christian faith, every person is called, like Saint Stephen, to imitate the life of Christ even unto death. This is also the path of the Twelve Brothers, whose relics were transferred to the city of Benevento in the 8th century by the Lombard Duke Arechi II. Their story is depicted in the pieces dedicated to the liturgy of the Twelve Holy Brothers, highlighting the dramatic intensity of their sacrifice. Yet, their martyrdom opens to hope through divine assistance, manifesting in the presence of angels (Venit Angelum), especially at the peak of their suffering.

The lives of the martyrs reflect the mystery of Christ’s Redemption, which in Catholic tradition reaches its culmination in the celebration of the Paschal Triduum, leading to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

The selected pieces guide us through the darkness of Good Friday, which accompanies the Lord’s death, towards the triumphant proclamation of Christ’s victory over death in the Resurrection, marked by the Exultet, followed by the joy and exultation of the Paschal Alleluia.

The risen Christ ascends to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Ecce sedet), preparing a place for those who have followed Him. From there, He sends forth the Holy Spirit, who empowers the faithful to continue His mission within the Church. It is the blood of the martyrs that has nurtured and continues to nurture the faith, as Tertullian reminds us in the 3rd century A.D.: Sanguis martyrum, semen christianorum (The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians) (Apologeticus, ch. 50).