Rilling conducted the first performance on 11 July 1998 in Eugene at the Oregon Bach Festival, with soloists Juliane Banse, Milagro Vargas, Marietta Simpson, Thomas Randle and Thomas Quasthoff, the Phoenix Boys Choir, and Oregon Bach Festival chorus and orchestra. The same year, Rilling conducted national premieres in Russia, Poland and Germany. Rilling conducted a recording which won the 2000 Grammy Award in the category best choral performance.