Three of the five movements of the Requiem memorialize specific catastrophes of the 20th century. The first movement mourns the life, times and brutal murder of Steven Biko, the South African leader of the Black Consciousness Movement. Movement II addresses the unspeakable losses of the Holocaust. Movement IV mourns the loss of our many friends to AIDS.

In the manner of liturgical requiems, this secular requiem also sounds notes of hope. The third movement, based on an observation in the I Ching that no storm can last all day, indicates that healing is possible, in spite of the recurrence of evil.

The final movement memorializes the heroic gesture of the cellist, Vedran Smailovic, who played for 22 days at the killing site of 22 civilians in Sarajevo; his name is silently embedded in the first letter of each line of the poem on which the movement is based.

The poems of the Requiem were written in memory of the sculptor and painter, Walter Winika.

The Requiem Before the Times of Peace, was performed by The New York Virtuosi Singers, directed by Harold Rosenbaum, at St. Peter's Church on April 24, 1999, in New York City. Excerpts from The Requiem Before the Times of Peace, were performed by The New York Virtuosi Singers, directed by Harold Rosenbaum, at The Kaufman Center, Merkin Concert Hall, on Jan. 21, 2006, NYC.