Henryk Górecki composed his Symphony No. 3 in 1976, but it wasn't destined to become a world-wide phenomenon, selling millions of albums, for well over a decade. In the meantime, though, he had received another major commission, from Cardinal Wojtyla of Cracow to mark the 900th anniversary of the assassination of St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Cracow. The occasion grew vastly in importance after Cardinal Wojtyla was elected Pope John Paul II in October 1978. The premiere was set for the Pope's first visit back to Poland in June 1979.

Beatus Vir is scored for baritone solo, choir, and orchestra, and takes for its text a collection of Psalm fragments. The piece is laid out as a single movement of some thirty-five minutes, but it clearly falls into sections. As is characteristic of Górecki's symphonic style, the orchestra is scored with multiple doublings in all registers, making it sound at times like a grand cathedral organ. The first section is an invocation, as the choir sings "Domine" over and over, creating ever more elaborate variations of a simple two-note descending phrase. The orchestra establishes a simple, but powerful, harmonic motion by expanding a two-note sonority from a minor to a major one.

The second section introduces the soloist, entering with another simple phrase underscored by tolling octaves in the orchestra. This time, the phrase rises by a step, and this gives impulse to an expansion up to the high register of the baritone. After the peak is reached, the choir enters as well, echoing the baritone's phrase endings. This long passage culminates with a shift from the pedal C (and a minor sonority) to E flat major. A simple two-note rocking motion in the orchestra cradles the soloist's "I lift up my hands to you in prayer." The tension, which gradually builds in this section, increases as the harmonic base shifts. A high point is attained when the choir joins the soloist on the text "O Lord, you are my Lord. I am always in your care." The E flat major rocking sonority continues, with fuller orchestration, moving to a dominant chord at phrase endings.

But, all is not resolved quite yet. The music returns to the opening, shifting back to C (minor), with its expansion, this time to a more ambiguous augmented triad. As the baritone fades away, the choir takes over on the text "The land has produced its harvest. God, our God, has blessed us." The simple harmonic underpinning fills out the C minor sonority by stepwise additions, arriving at the dominant and then resolving to a wonderful C major chord that signals the finale. The gentle chorale that follows is a revelation after the drama of the solo arias and musical architecture that has led to that point. The music closes with a sustained C major chord, over which is heard a repeated melodic fragment in the flutes, harps, and bells. This music, which shifts the tone to the even brighter Lydian mode, with the addition of the F sharp, is simply magic. It is a prayer, in music, that rises up into the ether as the resonances of the orchestra die away.

Beatus Vir is a fitting, but entirely personal, tribute by Górecki, to his own faith, to the historical faith of his country as represented by St. Stanislaus, and to the new Pope who hailed from the composer's native land.

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