About the work

Other works in the programme, while not directly using the words of the psalm, share the theme of persecution and exile. The works of Schoenberg and Hindemith were condemned by the Nazi régime as “degenerate.” Pärt was subject to the strictures of the Communist government in Estonia and received due acclaim in his own country only after the breakup of the Soviet Union. And John Dowland, while a contemporary of Byrd’s and a fellow Roman Catholic, did not enjoy the same privileges in his native England, so sought refuge in Denmark.