On September 19, 2002, John Adams' oratorio On the Transmigrationof Souls premiered in New York City. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for the opening week of the new season, the work was conceived as a musical commemoration of the traumatic impact of the World Trade Center attacks. The composer stated that he did not want to create a requiem but rather an otherworldly memory space, "a place where you can go and be alone with your thoughts and emotions." Inspired by the timeless spiritual power of European cathedrals he sought to enable the listener to feel as if "in the presence of many souls, generations upon generations of them." The first word heard, and repeated throughout, is "missing," indicating that the piece is haunted by the dead. Adams' articulation of the project in both individual and communal terms indicates a deep need in post-enlightenment cultures to situate the work of memory within a ritualized frame.