The 4th St Barbara’s Mystery Play will take place on Saturday 24 October at 7.30 pm at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles in Tarnowskie Góry – the very place where the veneration of the saint in our town began and...continues to this day!

The Mystery Play, now in its fourth edition, is a unique musical and visual spectacle, combining centuries-old traditions associated with the veneration of St Barbara, patron saint of miners and Tarnowskie Góry, with classical, operatic and film music. The programme includes works by Verdi, Wagner, Brahms, Rossini and Hans Zimmer, as well as the traditional Little Hours in honour of St Barbara, taken from an 18th-century prayer book of the Tarnowskie Góry brotherhood. The event will be complemented by specially prepared visual effects.

The event will feature artists from the Silesian opera scene, the In Tempore Chamber Vocal Ensemble and the Kamillian Parish Brass Band, conducted by Olek König.

This year’s Mystery Play takes place at a significant moment for Tarnowskie Góry’s heritage. A decision is expected in December 2026 regarding the international nomination of ‘The Feast of St Barbara and Mining Traditions’, submitted jointly by Poland, Austria and Luxembourg to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Should the decision be favourable, this will mark yet another international recognition of the heritage associated with Tarnowskie Góry. It is worth recalling that in March 2023, “Customs associated with the veneration of St Barbara and the traditions of ore miners in the Tarnowskie Góry region” were inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

—————————–

PROGRAMME:

• Now The Powers of Heaven – Grigory Lvovsky
• Im Herbst – Johannes Brahms
• La vergine degli angeli – Giuseppe Verdi
• Kindom Come – Deliverance 2 – Saint Barbara
• The Little Hours from the Prayer Book of the Brotherhood of St Barbara
• Arabesca – Samuel R. Hazo
• Domine Deus – Gioachino Rossini
• Dies irae – Michael John Trotta
• Chevaliers De Sangreal – Hans Zimmer
• Götterdämmerung – Richard Wagner

PERFORMERS:

Anna Wiśniewska-Schoppa, soprano

Piotr Nikiel, tenor

Yaroslava Nekliaieva, harp

Bartłomiej Kwiatkowski, organ

In Tempore Chamber Vocal Ensemble

The Kamillian Parish Brass Band, conducted by Olek König

We would like to remind you that Tarnowskie Góry has a deeply rooted tradition of venerating St Barbara, the patron saint of miners and a good death. It was in this very town, in 1721, that the Jesuits inspired the founding of one of the world’s first Confraternities of St Barbara. In 1747, Pope Benedict XIV officially recognised it with a special papal bull.

The traditional Little Hours in honour of St Barbara, found in the original Prayer Book of the Brotherhood of St Barbara from 1747, have become the spiritual core of the contemporary performance. These pieces were set to music by Bartłomiej Kwiatkowski, the organist at the Tarnowskie Góry parish, thereby combining several centuries of history with a modern artistic form.

On 3 March 2023, ‘Customs associated with the veneration of St Barbara and the traditions of ore miners in the Tarnowskie Góry region’ were inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Minister of Culture’s decision is not only a great honour but also a commitment to nurturing and promoting these traditions amongst the local community. It is for this very reason that the SMZT initiated the organisation of a mystery play, three editions of which have already taken place at the Church of St. Apostles Peter and Paul – a unique place where one can still admire the historic register of the Brotherhood of St Barbara from the first half of the 18th century, containing a papal bull, as well as a chapel with a painting of the miners’ patron saint.