Birutes Arija is one of the main themes from the Lithuanian National Opera ''Birute'' first staged in the year 1906 in Vilnius. It is a two part opera that was written by Choirmaster Mikas Petrauskas (1873-1937) and playwright Gabrielius Landsbergis-Zemkalnis (1852-1916). Birute was the first Lithuanian national opera and is considered as a monumental feat and contribution to Lithuanian culture and was one of the major stepping stones in the Lithuanian national revival. Birute was the chronicled wife of Grand Duke of Lithuania Kestutis. And the mother of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great.
The opera is set during the 14th-century Lithuanian Crusade. Winrich von Kniprode, komtur of the Teutonic Order, wishes to marry Birutė, daughter of the ruler of Palanga. In Act I, von Kniprode sends his envoys to persuade Birutė's father to agree to the marriage. If persuasion and gifts fail, they are prepared to take her by force. Birutė weeps and asks her father to kill her instead. However, krivių krivaitis (chief pagan priest) Lizdeika decrees that it is the will of the gods for Birutė to become a vaidilutė (pagan priestess similar to Roman vestales). In Act II, as Birutė prepares to be initiated, an old vaidila (priest or prophet) makes a prophesy that Birutė is destined to become the mother of a giant who will defeat the Teutonic Order (veiled reference to her son Grand Duke Vytautas and the Battle of Grunwald). Grand Duke Kęstutis arrives to the scene and becomes captivated by Birutė. He learns that the plan for her to become a vaidilutė is only a means to avoid the marriage to the Teutonic komtur, interrupts the initiation ceremony, and proposes to Birutė. As she agrees, a choir starts praising the homeland.