Wikipedia's first sentence called it “a 1947 choral work by aaron copland to a text from the book of genesis chapter 1”. Today it says “a 1947 choral work by aaron copland setting genesis 1”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “1947 choral work by Aaron Copland”. It now reads “1947 choral work by Aaron Copland Aaron Copland in 1962”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2020
In the Beginning is a 1947 choral work by Aaron Copland to a text from the Book of Genesis chapter 1:1 to 2:7.1 The 15'–20' minute long work is for mixed four-part chorus a capella and soprano or mezzo-soprano solo. The work is evocative of the Hebrew davening and shows the influence of polytonality with references to jazz and blues. In the Beginning was composed for Harvard University 's Symposium on Music Criticism in May 1947. The premiere was performed by the Collegiate Chorale at the Harvard Memorial Church , Cambridge on 2 May of that year, conducted by Robert Shaw . Encyclopedia of Modern Jewish Culture ed. Glenda Abramson- 1134428650 2004 Page 176 "He again drew upon the Bible for his 1947 cantata In the Beginning (Genesis I:1–II:7), a work evocative of davening.. But whereas the biblical account of Creation culminates in an abstraction, the Sabbath, Copland chose the creation of man for his conclusion.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 964223502.
The opening as it stood in 2025
1947 choral work by Aaron Copland In the Beginning is a 1947 choral work by Aaron Copland setting Genesis 1:1 to 2:7. The 15–20 minute long work is for mixed four-part chorus a capella and soprano or mezzo-soprano solo. The work is evocative of the Hebrew davening and shows the influence of polytonality with references to jazz and blues. In the Beginning was composed for Harvard University 's Symposium on Music Criticism in May 1947. The premiere was performed by the Collegiate Chorale at the Harvard Memorial Church , Cambridge on May 2 of that year, conducted by Robert Shaw . Encyclopedia of Modern Jewish Culture ed. Glenda Abramson- 1134428650 2004 Page 176 "He again drew upon the Bible for his 1947 cantata In the Beginning (Genesis I:1–II:7), a work evocative of davening.. But whereas the biblical account of Creation culminates in an abstraction, the Sabbath, Copland chose the creation of man for his conclusion.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1277446007. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “a 1947 choral work by aaron copland to a text from the book of genesis chapter 1”. Today it says “a 1947 choral work by aaron copland setting genesis 1”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “1947 choral work by Aaron Copland”. It now reads “1947 choral work by Aaron Copland Aaron Copland in 1962”. Read the current article and compare.
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2020, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
a 1947 choral work by aaron copland to a text from the book of genesis chapter 1
Now
a 1947 choral work by aaron copland setting genesis 1
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
