Dag Hammarskjöld was elected in 1953 as Secretary-General of the United Nations. He was killed in a plane crash in 1963.

Hammarskjöld was a deeply spiritual man whose profound faith is reflected in his journal "Markings" - an assembly of occasional personal jottings which he made throughout his challenging professional life. This collection of his thoughts was described in 1963 in the New York Times as "Perhaps the greatest testament of personal devotion published in this century". Out of this wealth of material I have taken three of his short simple thoughts, reflecting in music for three upper voices the quiet, personal introspection of a very special man of faith.