The work was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra[1] and was composed in 1981.

[2] The symphony has a duration of roughly 24 minutes and is composed in four movements: The work is scored for a large orchestra comprising three flutes (doubling piccolo and alto flute), three oboes (doubling English horn), three clarinets (doubling bass clarinet), three bassoons (doubling contrabassoon), four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, six percussionists, harp, and strings.

She added:The symphony does not lack for musical ideas, which appear to be organized tidily; some are presented with fine imagination.

The second, a sort of scherzo, features the woodwinds in lissome questionings that are summarily answered by the horns.

The andante offers the sort of shimmery-to-sustained string playing that calls to mind foggy landscapes a la Eugene O'Neill; its melancholy state was excellently indicated by conductor and ensemble alike.