Thus, when Rorem received a commission from the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, he used the opportunity to write a double concerto for the two soloists.
Rorem described his intent for the piece in the score program notes, writing:Music being the least representational of the arts (it does not depict other than itself), the overall title is abstract: Double Concerto.
Reviewing a recording of the work, Peter Dickinson of Gramophone wrote:The Double Concerto seems to be full of chorales; the first section, "Morning", is in a harmonic idiom close to Messiaen.
The Mazurka never feels Polish and breaks out into a hedonistic waltz; "Looking" alternates between the solo violin and the brass group; and "Conversation at Midnight", lasting nearly 15 minutes, is by far the longest movement.
It is a series of luxuriant exchanges between the soloists and what starts as a kind of D major hymn in the strings, and it has its own central section with faster music.