In this special time of reflection and remembering those who have passed away, the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic and the NFM Choir conducted by Andrzej Kosendiak will present the works of one of the most recognizable contemporary composers – Arvo Pärt – and Luigi Cherubini – an unjustly forgotten artist, who lived at the turn of Classicism and Romanticism.

Born in 1935, the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt enjoys recognition and unflagging popularity among music lovers. He has managed to develop a very individual musical language – he strives to express purity and beauty using simple means. Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, written for strings and a bell, was composed in 1977 as a reaction to Britten’s death, a composer whom the Estonian greatly appreciated and whom he had no opportunity to meet in person. This will be followed by The Deers Cry, a short motet for a cappella choir premiered in 2008. The text used by the composer is known under various titles: Lorica, St Patrick’s Armour or Faeth Fiadha – the cry of the doe. It is a prayer from the 5th century, based on a legend about an attempt to murder St. Patrick and his disciples. Instead of the saint, the robbers were to see a doe with her young. The first part of the concert will end with an arrangement of the medieval Marian hymn Salve Regina for mixed choir and organ from 2001. Pärt wrote this work on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of Essen Abbey, and it was in that cathedral that the work was performed for the first time.

The second part of the concert will feature Requiem in D minor by Luigi Cherubini, an artist whom history has dealt with extremely unkindly. In fact, this Italian composer active at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries was an exceptionally valued artist during his lifetime, and Ludwig van Beethoven and Gioacchino Rossini spoke enthusiastically about his works. His operas and sacred works in particular enjoyed great esteem. He spent most of his life in France, and the crowning achievement of his career was the directorship of the Paris Conservatory. His Requiem in D minor is a dark and serious composition for men’s choir and orchestra, written in 1836 with the intention of having it performed at his own funeral.