It was first performed at the Holland Festival in Gashouder, Amsterdam on June 22, 2012, by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the conductor Susanna Mälkki.
[1][2] Circle Map has a duration of 26 minutes and is composed in six movements: The electronic element of the work features a recording of Arshia Cont reading the writings of the 13th-century poet and theologian Rumi.
The first movement titled "Morning Wind" is carried on wisps of woodwind melody; "Circles" overlays brass riffs and myriad small repeating gestures.
The final movement, the most striking in its gentle lambent light, imagines what Rumi meant by a "quiet, bright reedsong.
"[3]The composition was also praised by David Wright of The Classical Review, who called it "a rich, multilayered work" and wrote, "All the effort and expense involved in mounting such a work paid off handsomely in the performance, which wove a deeply evocative sound-world around verses by the 13th-century poet Rumi, spoken on the electronic track in the original Persian.