He began rehearsing with Leo Brouwer, a Cuban guitarist, flutist Karlheinz Zöller, Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamashta and American singer William Pearson.

[1] The Australian premiere was performed at the Adelaide Festival on 14 March 1976, conducted by the composer, with Lyndon Terracini as El Cimarrón, Geoffrey Collins (flute), Roger Glanville-Hicks (guitar), and Colin Piper (percussion).

They consist of a baritone who portrays El Cimarrón, a guitarist, a flautist and a percussionist, although all four musicians play percussion instruments during the work.

The flautist also plays the Japanese ryūteki and the Italian scacciapensieri (Jew's harp), as well as the four conventional orchestral flutes.

[2] Henze's score features aleatoric elements, "fields" in which pitches and sounds are specified, but leaving tempo and dynamics to be determined by the performers, passages for improvisation, as well as sections in the classical manner.