The premiere was conducted by Jaime Martín and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with soloists David Pyatt, John Ryan, James Thatcher, and Richard Watkins.
[6] In the program notes for the world premiere, Horner commented on the inception of the piece, saying: I have known three of this evening's four soloists for the last 20 years or so of my professional life as a film composer.
Colin Anderson of Classical Source criticized the work as one of "Horner's inoffensive if more and more dull piece[s]," saying, "His Collage started promisingly with an ear-catching refrain, giving the scenic impression of the four horn-players calling across mountaintops, descriptive music that went straight to the senses.
But after a while the lack of rhythmic variety in this single-movement concerto became apparent: everything flowed by at a steady medium-slow pace, and the quality of musical invention was not very inspired.
It sounded like decent film music, but without any visual aspect to stimulate the imagination, so that the mind's eye instead created its own image of rocky vistas and rolling plains.