The Mother of God, Saint Cecilia, the Bride from the Song of Songs – three female figures present in Christian culture, although of ancient origin, have been a source of inspiration for the preeminent composers of the twentieth century. The NFM Choir, conducted by Lionel Sow, will refer to them when presenting Polish works – works by Andrzej Panufnik, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Krzysztof Penderecki, as well as Hymn to St Cecilia by Benjamin Britten and a masterpiece of French choral music – Le Cantique des cantiques by Jean Yves Daniel-Lesur. This little-known composer was one of Olivier Messiaen’s collaborators before World War II and deserves to be remembered without any doubt.

“You are more beautiful than the moon, purer than the stars, brighter than the sun, Mary!” – the musicians will sing in the Song to the Virgin Mary by Andrzej Panufnik. This quite simple Marian song with a melody reminiscent of folk music and Gregorian chant was written by him in exile as a result of inspiration by Polish folk piety. The sensual image of a woman, only hinted at in the text of Panufnik's work, will return immediately afterwards with full force in the polyphonic, elaborate, twelve-part setting of the biblical Song of Songs by Daniel-Lesur. By quoting the Venite, sponsa Christi antiphon in the last movement of the work, the composer tries to make us allegorically interpret the erotic Old Testament verses and read the spousal love they describe as an image of the relationship between Christ and the Church. Much simpler musical textures than those of Daniel-Lesur can be heard in Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Totus Tuus, written to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul II to Poland in 1987. The gentle, contemplative hymn O gloriosa Virginum – a mature work by Krzysztof Penderecki – will perfectly fit in the programme.

While in Poland the Marian cult is well developed, in England Saint Cecilia – the patron saint of musicians – is particularly revered. This martyr had a special meaning for Benjamin Britten, who was born on the day of her commemoration. The opportunity to dedicate a work to the saint arose when the composer became acquainted with the poet W.H. Auden, whom he asked to write an ode in her honour. The wonderful musical anthem, composed partly on the ship on which Britten made the dangerous journey from New York to Liverpool during World War II, was first performed on November 22, 1942 – on his twenty-eighth birthday, which was also the day of Saint Cecilia.