Copland, Aaron: In the Beginning (1947) 17'
for mezzo soprano and SSAATTBB

Music Text  
from Genesis (E)

Programme Note  
Based on the part of the King James Version of the Bible concerned with the seven days of creation, Copland chose a mezzo-soprano soloist and mixed chorus acapella to tell the oft-told story. As he explained, "I was striving for a gentle narrative style using the biblical phrase ëAnd the next day . . .' to round off each section." Robert Shaw conducted the premiere in Memorial Hall at Harvard and again in New York at Carnegie Hall; Nell Tangemen sang the difficult but extraordinarily effective solo part.

-Vivian Perlis, 1998