Titled Behold the Sun – Die Wiedertäufer, it was premiered there in German in 1985, and published by Schott Music.

[2] The libretto by John McGrath and Goehr is focused on the Wiedertäufer (anabaptists) and set in Münster[3] in 1543, when two Dutch anabaptists, Jan Matthys and John of Leiden (or Jan Bokelson) tried to transform the town to a "City of God" in expectation of the Second Coming of Christ.

Titled Behold the Sun – Die Wiedertäufer,[2] the opera was premiered in Duisburg on 19 April 1985,[6] conducted by Hiroshi Wakasugi, and staged by Bohumil Herlischka in a set designed by Ruodi Barth.

44a, was recorded as part of a collection of the composer's works, with soprano Jeanine Thames and the London Sinfonietta, conducted by Oliver Knussen.

[5] Goehr said about his opera that the people are the protagonists, and the focus of the music is their turbae chorus sections.