In celebration of the work's 75th premiere anniversary earlier this month, dive into the music and craft behind Copland's choral masterpiece, In the Beginning.
Read more- Title
- In the Beginning
- For
- mezzo-soprano and mixed chorus (SSAATTBB)
- Year Composed
- 1947
- ARCO Number(s)
- 59
- Category
- Choral
- Duration
- 17'
- Text Information
- Text from the Biblical Book of Genesis
- Premiere
- World: Cambridge, Mass., May 2nd, 1947 (Nell Tangeman, Harvard University Collegiate Chorale, cond. Robert Shaw)
- Commission Info
- A. Tillman Merritt and Harvard University, for the school's Symposium on Music Criticism
- Publisher
- Boosey & Hawkes
- Publishing Status
- Published
Buying Options
Boosey & HawkesExternal Links
Program 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 'And 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.
- Author
- Vivian Perlis
- Year
- 1998
