The movements "Pianos" and "Blue Strings" were adapted for the soundtrack to Errol Morris's 2008 documentary Standard Operating Procedure, for which Elfman also composed the full music score.

Serenada Schizophrana is scored for the following large orchestra and chorus:[2] In the liner notes for the 2006 CD recording, Elfman writes: "I began composing several dozen short improvisational compositions, maybe a minute each.

"[3] He goes on to list the following influences for Serenada Schizophrana and his work in general: Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota, Dimitri Tiomkin, Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Dmitri Shostakovich, Carl Orff, Kurt Weill, Duke Ellington, Harry Partch and Philip Glass.

With six movements, rolling piano solos (by Christopher Oldfather) and the charming hoots and chirps of eight female voices (the ACO Singers under Judith Clurman), Mr. Elfman gave us music comfortable in its own world and highly professional in its execution...

"[4] Film Score Monthly hailed the CD release as "a freewheeling six-movement composition for full orchestra that forever teeters between the worlds of scowling academia and impish rebellion... perfectly balanced... Serenada Schizophrana sparkles with orchestral color and energy..."[5] Soundtrack.Net called it "a musical roller coaster ride through various little set pieces and landscapes, containing at times the orchestral majesty of Elfman's early career, his minimalist phase, and his more recent bouts of complex overlapping constructions and controlled dissonance.