The title of the piece is a quote from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, though the composer noted that it has no programmatic meaning.
[3] The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), three oboes (3rd doubling English horn), two clarinets, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, four percussionists, harp, piano, celesta, and strings.
[4] Alan Artner of the Chicago Tribune wrote:At Thursday's final rehearsal, Wagner described the score in the terms of a tracking shot on a city street.
People pass in and out of a primary figure's sphere of influence, giving the sense of hurtling activity.
But Malkki and the orchestra successfully conveyed the work's intense drive as well as personal, uneasily twinkling calm.