Singer Anna Fialová performs iconic Velvet Revolution song ‘Prayer for Marta’ on Národní Street

The song ‘Prayer for Marta’ (Modlitba pro Martu), originally sung by Marta Kubišová, was performed this year at the Velvet Revolution commemorations on Národní Street by Anna Fialová. The twenty-nine-year-old singer stepped out onto the balcony of Palác Metro, overlooking a packed street, and performed the song at the traditional time of 5:11 pm. Her powerful rendition was met with thunderous applause.

The song was first composed for Marta Kubišová and the television series Song for Rudolf III in 1968. This coincided with the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, and it became a symbol of Czechoslovak resistance. After nineteen years of her being banned from public appearances, Marta Kubišová and Prayer for Marta became symbols of the Velvet Revolution in 1989.