He took the four-part setting of the Christmas carol Es ist ein Ros entsprungen by Michael Praetorius (1609) as a starting point.
[4] It is published for the U.S. by Walton Music as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming / Es ist ein Ros entsprungen".
The voices of choir II enter one after the other within four measures, from the lowest to the highest, starting ppp and gradually increasing to piano.
[9] In 2002, the chamber choir Dresdner Kammerchor, conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann, included it on their CD Weihnachten, and it was described in a review as an "absolutely otherworldly setting ... Praetorius meets Ligeti".
[10] Performed by the Dale Warland Singers, the composition is part of a 2005 CD Noel – A Music Feast, a charitable project which also features "Carol of the Bells" and "Hallelujah" from Messiah, sung by the Westminster Choir.
[12] Reviewer Dan Morgan commented on Sandström's work: "From its dark, monastic beginning rising to a radiant, multi-layered crescendo, this is the disc's crowning glory.
[13] John Miller describes Sandström's addition as a "timeless, atmospheric, dream-like sound-scape of poignantly dissonant polyphonic strands".