Mystical Engagement explores the theme of women’s monasticism as an engagement with Christ. In both Baroque religious texts and music, the theme of love for Christ is expressed in a sensual rhetoric that is very close to the poetry of secular love. By choosing the path of a nun, a woman gives her chastity to Christ, pledges her fidelity and dedicates her life to this Beloved.

The programme was inspired by the research of the scholar Auksė Kaladžinskaitė on Benedictine monasteries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the rituals of the Baroque period for nun’s habituation and vows. The concert will feature music by women composers of the Baroque era, specifically Italian composers of the 17th century, most of whom were nuns, and will mainly include sacred works that reflect themes of love for God. These include Francesca Caccini, Settimia Caccini, Caterina Assandra, Claudia Sessa, Sulpitia Cesis, Lucrezia Vizzana, Isabella Leonarda, Rosa Giacinta Badalla, Isabella Leonarda, Barbara Strozzi, Maria Meda Bianca, Antonia Bembo, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani – truly great music that is well worth knowing.