Muhly described the inspiration for the piece in the score program notes, writing:Sentences is a thirty-minute meditation, in collaboration with Adam Gopnik, on several episodes drawn from the life and work of Alan Turing.
He added:I've always felt that the question of sentient computers is wildly emotional: we anthropomorphise the Mars Rover, imagining its solitude on that dusty planet.
Anybody who has made a condolence phone call only to hear the voice of the deceased on the outgoing answering machine message knows the complexities of what could be a simple binary communication.
"[4] Hannah Nepil of the Financial Times similarly wrote: ...Adam Gopnik's libretto frequently reads like a philosophical riddle, while the score relies heavily on clever number games.
In this elegant performance from countertenor Iestyn Davies and the Britten Sinfonia under Muhly himself, no detail was either overcooked or overlooked.