"It was brave of me to accept a commission for a choral work to be premiered at a Symposium on Music Criticism at Harvard in May 1947, never having composed anything of length for chorus." Thus spoke Aaron Copland about the genesis of his single-movement motet for mezzo-soprano "story-teller" and unaccompanied chorus, In the Beginning. Though Harvard's Music Department had suggested that he use a Hebrew text for the choral piece, he chose the portion of the King James Bible (Genesis 1:1-2:7) that describes the seven days of creation. Copland decided to tell the ancient tale in a "gentle narrative style" using the biblical phrase "And the evening and the morning were the ___ day" as a chanted refrain, its tonal center rising with every appearance, to conclude each section of the work. It was only when he arrived at the third day of creation that the composer "saw that it was good" and felt that his approach would be successful. He went on to portray the varying moods and events of the creation days by using different rhythmic patterns, tempi, textures, and tonal centers. Copland writes that this work "does not incorporate folk music or jazz materials, but jazz rhythms are used in various sections, particularly for the verse 'And let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens…' A cadenza-like passage for the singer and a final coda force all the voices to the top of their range, bringing the work to a climax that I hoped would depict the text—'And man became a living soul'—in musical terms." He completed the score just in time for the rehearsals at the end of April 1947; Robert Shaw conducted the piece expertly; and the work was warmly received by the critics.