The international cultural project Tuba Mirum

Between 12 and 29 July 2001 the State Hermitage was the setting for a new international cultural project Tuba Mirum (Trumpet of the Eternal), organized by the museum in conjunction with the Hermitage Music Academy Foundation and the Odeon Producing Centre.

The Tuba Mirum is a sign of the resurrection on the day of the Last Judgement. This biblical symbol is embodied in one of mankind’s oldest musical instruments - the trumpet. For many centuries the sound of the trumpet was an attribute of war. Today the trumpet summons us to peace and invites us to work creatively. The development of the project envisages spectacular musical events during the period of the White Nights, each timed to mark the most significant milestones in the life of the Hermitage and of St Petersburg.

The Hermitage has long since begun to include music in its collection of works of art. The museum has its own orchestra - the St Petersburg Camerata. Its director Saulius Sondeckis recalled that the idea of arranging concerts in the halls of the museum had already occurred to the previous head of the Hermitage, Boris Piotrovsky. It was destined to be realized, however, by his son Mikhail Piotrovsky, the present-day Director of the Hermitage. Concerts have been held in the Hermitage halls on a regular basis since 1997. Now, though, the music is pouring out of the museum halls into the space around the Hermitage.

The international musical project Tuba Mirum was timed to mark the formal opening of the Main Gates of the Winter Palace. The musical accompaniment chosen for the event was the oratorio The Seven Gates of Jerusalem, created by the leading Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki for the 3000th anniversary of that ancient city.

The Russian premiere of the oratorio took place in the Large Courtyard on 26 June 2001. It was performed by the State Hermitage orchestra St Petersburg Camerata, Penderecki’s Festival Orchestra (Poland), the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Jerusalem orchestra (Israel), the Kaunas City Choir (Lithuania), the Chamber Choir of St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Stockholm (Sweden), a chamber choir from Saarbrucken (Germany) and the Lege Artis Choir (St Petersburg, Russia) and conducted by the composer himself. The open-air auditorium contained an audience of over 3,000 who were entertained by almost 400 musicians from six countries.

The opening of the gates is one of the stages in the New Entrance to the Hermitage project that will be completed in 2003. From then on the courtyard will not only provide easy access to the museum for tremendous numbers of visitors, but will also be a venue for concerts and theatrical performances.

The Tuba Mirum project also included a unique exhibition of musical instruments provided by the world’s only trumpet museum, located in the German town of Bad Sackingen. Entitled The Trumpeter of Sãckingen, it was held in the foyer of the Hermitage Theatre.

Within the project period the halls of the Hermitage and the stage of the Hermitage Theatre hosted concerts by soloists, orchestras and choirs from Germany, Israel, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden.