The first movement was originally commissioned as a stand-alone piece in 2006 by Commander Donald Schofield of the United States Air Force Band of Mid-America and premiered February 2007.
That chance came in 2009, thanks to Jerry Junkin: shortly after his fantastic 2009 performance of Ecstatic Waters at the College Band Directors National Association conference in Austin, we discussed my desire to write more movements, and he graciously agreed to lead a consortium to commission the project.
Lawrence Budmen of The Classical Review compared the virtuosity of the piece to Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and called it a "bravura ensemble vehicle."
Budmen nevertheless gave the work mixed praise, writing:The first fortissimo roar of the full ensemble and antiphonal forces perks up the ears.
The gloomy heaviness of the following segment is considerably less appealing and the pealing brass chorales and full-throttle percussion of the conclusion sound like innumerable other contemporary fanfares.