Who was 'Mi', the woman who inspired Messiaen to write the beautiful and complex work Poèmes pour Mi? This was one of the questions Liv Elise Nordskog and Signe Bakke asked when they started work on this disc, having immersed themselves in Messiaen's diverse and rich world of sound for many years.

Poet Cécile Sauvage was Messiaen's mother. Her poem cycle 'L'Ame en Bourgeon' (Soul in the bud), from 1908, was written while she was pregnant with her ​​son. Nearly thirty years later Olivier Messiaen and his wife, violinist and composer Claire Delbos, had a son. While Delbos was pregnant, she put set the poem cycle to music. Mi was Olivier Messiaen's nickname for his spouse Claire.