I suppose everyone is familiar with the basic story of Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who believed God chose her to lead the French against English forces during the Hundred Years’ War. She managed to convince the Dauphin, Charles de Valois (soon King Charles VII), to entrust her with an army, which she led to the besieged city of Orléans. There, without military training, she succeeded in achieving a momentous victory against Anglo-Burgundian forces. She was later captured, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake at the age of 19. Nearly 30 years later, the case was reopened and she was declared innocent. Revered for nearly 600 years, she was elevated to a national symbol by Napoleon in 1803 and finally canonized in 1920.

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll be listening to music for films inspired by Joan’s historical exploits, with two scores written in response to Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 classic, “The Passion of Joan of Arc.” “The Passion of Joan of Arc” will be screened as part of this year’s The Princeton Festival. Soloists of Notre Dame Vocale will join the Princeton Festival Chorus and Princeton Symphony Orchestra to perform, with the film, “Voices of Light” by Richard Einhorn. That event will take place at Princeton University Chapel on June 9 at 8:30 p.m. Einhorn himself will give a free pre-performance talk at the Princeton Garden Theatre at 5 p.m. More information is available at princetonfestival.org.

We’ll be sampling from Einhorn’s score, written in 1994, as well as one commissioned from Danish composer and conductor Ole Schmidt, also written to accompany the film, in 1983.

In 1999, Luc Besson directed the “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc,” with his then wife, Milla Jovovich, as the Maid of Orléans, and a starry supporting cast, including John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway and Dustin Hoffman (donning an Obi-Wan robe). The composer was Éric Serra. The score is primarily orchestral, but incorporates synthesized effects.

Finally, we’ll turn to Otto Preminger’s “Saint Joan,” based on the play by George Bernard Shaw. Graham Greene wrote the screenplay for the 1957 film. Newcomer Jean Seberg was Joan, somewhat out of her league alongside veteran actors John Gielgud, Anton Walbrook and Felix Aylmer. Also, would you believe Richard Widmark as Charles VII? Unfortunately, “Saint Joan” was immolated by the critics. Mischa Spoliansky composed the lovely score. Here’s the film’s main title sequence, designed by the legendary Saul Bass:

I hope you’ll join me for these scores written for films about Joan of Arc, on WWFM – The Classical Network, this Friday evening at 6 EDT, with a repeat Saturday morning at 6; or that you’ll listen to them later as a webcast at wwfm.org.