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Programme Note

1. O Master of all living, bestowing priceless gifts upon us [O povelitel' sushchego vsego, bestsennymi darami nas daryashchij]
2. I, an expert in human passions, composed this collection of songs, where every Verse is full to the brim with black sorrow [Sobran'ye pesen sikh, gde kazhdyj stikh napolnen skorb'yu chernoyu do kraya, slozhil ya - vedatl'strastej lyudskikh]
3. To all who grasp the meaning of these mournful words [Vsem tem, kto vniknet v sushchost' skorbnykh slov]
4. Complete this work which I began in hope and with Your name [Sey trud, shto nachinal ya s upovan'yem i s imenem Tvoim, Ty tavershi]

The second movement can be performed separately.

The third movement premiered first on 14 July 1984 in Istanbul by the USSR State Chamber Choir with Valery Poyansky as the conductor.

There is also an arrangement for string quartet of the second movement (collected songs where every verse is filled with grief) by Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, 1997).