Our Father (cantata)

[1] Our Father met with a mixed reception at first, but it is now a much-recorded work[2] and has been praised as an interesting and successful example of Janáček's ability to combine Christian texts with his own social commitment.

They decided to stage a series of tableaux vivants based on these paintings to be performed by a local theatre group as a fundraising venture, and they commissioned Janáček to write "musical illustrations" for this entertainment.

[6][7] In 1906 Janáček rescored the work, replacing the piano and harmonium with harp and organ; this revised version was performed in November of that year at the Rudolfinum in Prague by the Czech Orchestral Music Society.

[11] Jaroslav Vogel called it "this too seldom performed work", and believed that it "reveals the meditative qualities of its creator and his ability to merge into one the Christian prayer and his own social and humanitarian feelings".

[12] Bohumír Štědroň agreed that Janáček's setting emphasised the human as opposed to the ideal conception of the Lord's Prayer: Here, once more, we have proof of his realistic understanding of life.