The suite was commissioned by the Tcherepnin Society for the pianist Eric Himy, who played its world premiere that October 14 at Alice Tully Hall in New York City.
The score exemplifies Liebermann's modernist style, in which tonal harmony and expressive gestures grounded in tradition coexist with avant-garde procedures.
Many cathedral gargoyles portray grotesque faces with great humor, and Liebermann intends precisely that in his pieces, which have the mordant wit of Sergei Prokofiev's "bad boy" style in their ancestry.
The brief opening movement commences with an arresting three-note “signal” and move forward with perpetual motion rhythms, the narrative studded with shock-effects.
Crystalline sonorities mark the third Gargoyle which floats a songful theme over luminous liquid swirls, and ultimately develops into a duet.