Although sharing a religious nature, the three pieces in this programme had different origins and were composed with different motivations. If the reason Fauré composed a Requiem is not clear, with him seeing it as more a personal challenge than a funereal eulogy, in the case of Sofia Gubaidulina, her Offertorium is as deeply spiritual as was the core of her inspiration. This piece was composed for and dedicated to Gidon Kremer, the violinist who, through his work, would reveal the Russian composer to the western world. Finally, Lili Boulanger, in the last year of her short life, dedicated Pie Jesu to her older sister, the legendary pedagogue, composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger.