World premiere Tuesday at U.

Hearing the world premiere of a great work is always a special and unique experience. But hearing a posthumous world premiere — 33 years after the composer's passing — is particularly special and unique.

Utah audiences will have a chance to be a part of history on Tuesday, when the University of Utah's music department presents a concert featuring two of Leroy Robertson's works, including the premiere of Three Love Songs, from the would-have-been opera "Pegeen." (Also on the program are Robertson's Quintet in A Minor for Piano and Strings and Von Weber's Clarinet Quintet.)

"Uncompleted works at the end of a composer's life hold a special mystique for music listeners," said composer Robert Cundick, who helped prepare the score for this concert. "Two special examples are the Bach 'Art of Fugue' and the Mozart 'Requiem.' This 'folk opera,' as he called it, of Robertson's is another example of that tantalizing 'what if' when a work is uncompleted.

A well-respected musician in his own right, Cundick is a former student of Robertson's and worked with Robertson's daughter, Marian Robertson Wilson, to craft a vocal and four-hand piano reduction of Robertson's original orchestral score. "I was completely fascinated with this. It was such a special experience to be working right from Robertson's manuscript pages, looking at the hand manuscript, the hand that I had known so well during my student days."

Cundick added that it wasn't difficult to understand Robertson's musical intentions, as the sketches of the three songs were so complete — right down to which instruments were intended for the orchestration. Unfortunately, the rest of the score hadn't been completed because Robertson almost completely lost his sight before passing away and couldn't see well enough to notate the music. Robertson also suffered from other health problems, but Cundick recalled that his mind was active right to the end.

Robert Walzel, director of the University of Utah's School of Music, said the U. puts on a concert featuring works by Robertson each alternate year. Part of the purpose is to promote Robertson's music and help it live in perpetuity. "He still is very much revered," Walzel said. "He was a leading composer on a national level, and an international level, really, from Utah. To have him here at the university was quite an honor for us."

Walzel added that the concert itself is a unique experience. "Most of the concerts that are presented here are either all students or all faculty, and this is one that features both students and faculty together."