Canti di prigionia is a setting for chorus

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

, two pianos, two harps and percussion by the Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola

Luigi Dallapiccola

Luigi Dallapiccola was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions.-Biography:Dallapiccola was born at Pisino d'Istria , to Italian parents....

.

Dallapiccola sets three texts of imprisonment: a prayer of Mary Stuart, an extract from Book Three of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy

Consolation of Philosophy

Consolation of Philosophy is a philosophical work by Boethius, written around the year 524. It has been described as the single most important and influential work in the West on Medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, and is also the last great Western work that can be called Classical.-...

and Savonarola's unfinished Meditation on the Psalm 'My hope is in Thee, O Lord' . Composed in 1938-41, the first song was premiered on Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 Radio in 1940, weeks before the Nazi Invasion of Belgium

Battle of Belgium

The Battle of Belgium or Belgian Campaign formed part of the greater Battle of France, an offensive campaign by Germany during the Second World War...

. Dallapiccola himself wrote that the work was a direct response to Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

's speech introducing race laws to Italy:

I should have liked to protest, but I was not so naive as to disregard the fact that, in a totalitarian regime, the individual is powerless. Only by means of music would I be able to express my indignation.

Dallapiccola was to develop the material (and some of the musical ideas) in his 1948 opera Il prigioniero

Il prigioniero

Il prigioniero is an opera in a prologue and one act, with music and libretto by Luigi Dallapiccola. The opera was first broadcast by the Italian radio station RAI on 1 December 1949...

, in which he further explores the ideas of personal as well as ideological imprisonment. Canti di liberazione followed in 1955.

Songs

1. Preghiera di Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart's Prayer)
2. Invocazione di Boezio (The Invocation of Boethius)
3. Congedo di Girolamo Savonarola (Girolamo Savonarola's Farewell)