The polish composer Henryk Gorecki, born in 1933, readily acknowledges the influence of national, religious, and folk traditions upon his music, including the avant-garde works which made his name in the late 1950s. His Psalm setting Beatus Vir was composed in 1979 to fulfil a request from Karol Wojtyla, the Cardinal of Krakow, made shortly before his election as pope. The commission the celebrated 900th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Stanislaw, a bishop of Krakow murdered by the king's henchmen while celebrating Mass. Beatus Vir is dedicated to Pope John Paul II and was premiered in his presence during his first pilgrimage to Poland.