[2][3] In the program notes to the score, Rouse commented, "With the exception of my Christmas work, Karolju, this is the most unabashedly tonal music I have composed.
I wished to depict a progression to an ever more blinding ecstasy, but the entire work inhabits a world devoid of darkness -- hence the almost complete lack of sustained dissonance.
David Gutman of Gramophone gave the piece moderate praise, commenting, "Some readers will welcome its frank neo-romanticism.
The piece is conceived as an increasingly active journey towards an isle of bliss that’s a good deal noisier than Rautavaara’s.
"[4] Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun lauded the work, writing:The score starts with low, soft rumbles and questioning melodic flurries that, as tempo and harmonic tension subtly increase, lead inexorably toward an incandescent aural light.