The inauguration of any monument is one of the most lofty moments for any community. It is a time of true emotion as well as a display of power. A joint triumph of authorities and artists. An idea morphs into reality, homage paid to heroes co-existing with ongoing political disputes.
The eminent composer Krzysztof Penderecki composed as many as three pieces for purposes of monument unveiling ceremonies. In 1967, he composed the Dies irae oratory to inaugurate the International Monument to Victims of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp. The Lacrimosa, ordered personally by Lech Wałęsa, accompanied the unveiling of the Monument to Murdered Shipyard Workers in Gdańsk in 1981, to then be incorporated as part of the Polish Requiem. In 2018, the artist composed the Lacrimosa II for the ceremony of unveiling the Monument to Victims of Pomeranian Atrocities in Toruń in 1939.