Its world premiere was given by the flutist Jeffrey Khaner and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Roberto Abbado at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on December 4, 2003.
Rorem commented on the movement titles in the score program notes, writing, "I don't believe that non-vocal music can be proved to "mean" anything precise, like Love or Death or Fright, much less Yellow or Tuesday or Lake.
"Résumé and Prayer" is just that: a cadenza reviving briefly all the foregoing matter, and closing on a very quiet note.
[1] Reviewing a recording of the piece paired with Rorem's Violin Concerto and Pilgrims, Peter Dickinson of Gramophone wrote, "This is relaxed and indulgent music, even if these works are not the best from this now grand old man of American music.
"[2] John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune similarly described it as an "inventively quirky mosaic of instrumental songs without words.