Before his death, Hetherington noted his irrational compulsion to return to conflict zones, preferring to report the atrocities of war from the front rather than remain in the idle safety of home.
[1] The work is scored for a solo cello and a large orchestra consisting of three flutes, three oboes, three clarinets, three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, three percussionists, harp, and strings.
[1] The piece was praised by Martin Kettle of The Guardian, who wrote, "The concerto confronts two important, linked questions with which many creative artists have wrestled: how can a composer respond to the great public issues of the day – in this case the war in Syria – and how can any such response avoid being judged on moral as much as on musical grounds?
"[4] Steph Power of The Independent similarly observed, "Propelled by outrage at the atrocities visited upon Syria by Isis, Bray has responded with music that is defiantly exquisite as well as stark, for example, with the high-ringing tinnitus that follows a bomb explosion.
"[5] Barry Millington of the London Evening Standard remarked, "Passages of repetitive jagged material, perhaps alluding to the firing of arms, alternate with poignant interludes that suggest altered states of consciousness."