The myth of Doctor Faust, with his greed for knowledge and power and his lust for amorous escapades, has not lost its fascination to this day. His inability to enjoy the moment of happiness leads to the devil's pact with Mephisto. Franz Liszt composed an entire symphony about it, without claiming to set Goethe's literary model to music. In three large movements characterising Faust, Gretchen and Mephisto, he wanted to make the spiritual content of Faust audible.

The 24th Psalm by Lili Boulanger is the miraculous work of a 22-year-old composer who unfortunately died far too early. And with the Song of the Rising Lark by Ralph Vaughan Williams, written almost at the same time, Pekka Kuusisto will make his first appearance of the season as 'Artist in Residence' of the Sinfoniorchester Basel.