In a letter to Bohdan Pociej composer writes: “… I fear theatricality, pomposity and pathos; hence the reason for drawing on century-old or indeed thousand-year old traditions; hence also the decision of renouncing in the Credo any form of orchestral temptations by composing this pivotal section of the work for solo tenor and a cappella chorus (…).
Furthermore, before putting a single note on paper I had already decided on the title, wchich defines from the outset that the course of the entire work is focused on the words”dona nobis pacem” and determines the character of its respective sections, particularly in the Kyrie as well as the whole sequence of the Agnus Dei (…).
During the course of composition, a type of radial concentric system for the whole piece began to form around the Credo, engendering a correlation between the Kyrie and Agnus Dei and between the Gloria and Sanctus (…) the role of the orchestra became gradually less important and relatively modest, the entire weight of the text being taken over by human voices without illustrative aid from the instruments, without orchestral >>commentaries<<“