In the score program note, she wrote, "In time, as I read the book, the variation of musical motifs at different tempos emerged as one of the basic ideas behind the orchestral piece on which I was beginning to work.
[2] In English, the words read, "Gentle, dangerous, dream-like, lively, dead, clear, hazy, hot, strong, naked, sudden, dark, spring-like, penetrating, pressing, direct, oblique, sensuous, overpowering, restricting, poisonous, pacifying, bright light.
"[1] The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo and alto flute), three oboes, three clarinets, two bassoons (2nd doubling contrabassoon), six horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, two timpanists, three percussionists, harp, celesta, piano, and strings.
[1] Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "'Ingratiating' is a surprising way to describe a work by a composer whose language is often abstract, even austere.
Yet Laterna Magica, which draws both its title and some narrative inspiration from the autobiography of the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, is packed with arresting and oddball inventions.