It was premiered at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on February 10, 1996 by Theatre of Voices with Paul Hillier, to whom the piece is dedicated.
This original melody and text are repeated throughout the piece in successive unison canons, gradually augmenting in length but not strictly,[3] and interspersed with tenor duets that vocalise on the prevailing vowel sound.
In this central part, the melody is inverted with some resulting conflict between natural and flattened leading notes, and the canon is interrupted by both a false start and a tenor interlude.
The return to the home key area marks the start of the final canon, and a joining of both soprano and tenor ideas, until at the end the text is restated to a transformed melody with chordal accompaniment.
Groupings of bar lengths begin to emerge and then changes in this underlying fabric serve to define sections, such as the tenor organa and the false canon.