World premiere: April 25, 2026, Bohemian National Hall, NYC, Jennifer Zetlan, soprano, The Washington Square Ensemble with the composer conducting.
“The Past as Present was composed for a concert exploring the vision of the late Czech musicologist Lenka Hlávková, to create new works using music of the past as inspiration. Professor Hlávková was one of 14 people tragically killed in a random attack at Charles University in Prague in 2023.
“The cycle comprises two songs, with an interlude separating them. All three parts open with a rising figure suggestive of Gregorian chant, then each finds its own path. The first text, by Phillis Levin, probes the meaning of life’s existence, but with some irony and whimsy. The interlude following revels in the virtuosic possibilities of Renaissance instrumental writing. The music gradually calms before the final movement, a setting of a solemn poem by Denise Levertov that speaks to our hopes and fears of the unknown in the face of death.” LK