Spiral was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic Foundation to celebrate Sir Simon Rattle's final season with the orchestra.

[1][2] It was part of their "tapas" series of short commissions, intended as an introduction to contemporary music.

[4] Norman has described it as "a short piece that traces the transformations of a small number of instrumental gestures as they orbit each other in ever-contracting circles".

[7] Norman has also said that certain ideas in the piece were directly inspired by his experiences with Sir Simon and the Berlin Philharmonic.

[1] The piece is scored for the following orchestra:[8] Woodwinds Brass Percussion Keyboards Strings