Lost in Translation was completed first in a chamber version for voice, with oboe, cello and harpsichord on 6 July 1993 in Aspen, Colorado and commissioned by Frederick Hammond, who along with baritone Michael Sokol, et al., premiered it on 8 October 1993 at the Olin Auditorium of Bard College. Hagen withdrew the peice a year later, revising it and orchestrating it. The final version was completed on 21 March 1994 in New York City and premiered by baritone Kurt Ollman and the American Symphony Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Leon Botstein, on 6 May 1994 at the Olin Auditorium in Annadale-on-Hudson, New York.