These settings of poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins, the Jesuit poet, were written while Benjamin Britten was resident in America.

The title is a shorthand form of a pious inscription, Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam, often placed at the head of a piece of work. Benjamin Britten was a central figure of 20th century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral and chamber pieces.