It was a commissioned work by the Holland Festival and it was first performed by Reich's musicians as well as members of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble.
Each of the piece's four sections develop in an "arch" structure, ABCBA, characteristic of Reich's work at this time.
Reich explained that this piece was part of his experiment with using "the human breath as the measure of musical duration ... the chords played by the trumpets are written to take one comfortable breath to perform" (liner notes for Music for a Large Ensemble).
Although the piece is not one of Reich's most popular, it has been recorded several times, most recently in a performance conducted by Alan Pierson.
The mallet instruments, clear and solid at the beginning, gradually blend into the background as trumpets and soprano saxophones surge forward.