It was written in 1993 as a part of his MPhil portfolio in Composition at Cambridge University and premiered at the Barbican Hall in London under Oliver Knussen.
Adès uses a wide variety of extended techniques, such as the double bass player and pianist hitting the back of their instruments.
The work is divided into five main sections, with three additional parts whose names are anagrams of each other.
Imagery from the poem relates to sections of the work in both titles and musical material.
[2] London Sinfonietta with Markus Stenz: (From Amazon.com) Information on Living Toys at Faber Music can be found here