The piece was given its world premiere by Galway and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the conductor Myung-whun Chung at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on February 4, 1982.
"[1] Corigliano partially based the form of the work on Robert Browning's narrative poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," arguably the most famous version of the tale.
So I had to modify the story a bit, and I included battle scenes between the Piper and the rats and other elements that could set the soloist’s fingers racing."
He added, "In restructuring the legend I had to provide a logical continuity for this story, but I also had to produce a satisfying purely musical structure so that the piece worked as a concerto for flute and orchestra too.
Jack Hurst of the Chicago Tribune observed, "Corigliano gives exuberant rein to his eclecticism in this seven-movement programmatic retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin legend, combining Brittenish lyricism, new-fangled splashes of dissonance, old-fashioned virtuoso gestures (for both flute and tin whistle) and amusing onomatopoeic effects (the scurrying, squeaking music for the rats) with his usual craftsmanlike skill.
"[4] Edward Reichel of Deseret News said the concerto "shows Corigliano at his most colorful and descriptive in terms of orchestration and melodic inventiveness.
He continued, "But it's not clear that Corigliano's theatrical bonbon, a concert entertainment written for James Galway and based on Browning's poem, is the most interesting music on offer here.