The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for their final season with the conductor Daniel Barenboim as music director.
Reviewing the world premiere, John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune lauded the composition, writing:Soundings packs a lot of invention into its dozen minutes.
In between, Carter gives us a parade of rapidly shifting orchestral ideas: horn and woodwinds chopping up a darting phrase; the subterranean rumbles of contrabass clarinet; a twittering trio of piccolos; a pensive tuba solo that's actually longer than the entire piano part.
[2]Andrew Clements of The Guardian gave the work a more mixed response, however, observing, "Composed three years ago as a leaving present for Daniel Barenboim when he stepped down as music director of the Chicago Symphony, Soundings was expressly designed for Barenboim to conduct from the piano like a Mozart concerto.
He added, "The main body of the piece is a miniature concerto for the orchestra alone, with some typically nimble late Carter ideas - for a choir of clarinets and a trio of piccolos, especially - but the whole thing never really hangs together.