Rorem described the third movements as "a short, passionate page about somnambulism, full of dynamic contrast, and coming from afar."
[2] The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoon, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, celesta, piano, and strings.
I find the manic, Bernstein-esque scherzo uncharacteristically coarse, though the finale more than makes up for it, providing exhilaration and plenty of orchestral razzle-dazzle without a trace of raucousness.
"[3] Reviewing a 2000 performance at the Curtis Institute of Music, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times similarly observed, "It is in some ways very much of its time, in that it embodies an updated form of Impressionism, filtered through an American urbanity, as well as stretches of jazzy theatricality in the style of Bernstein (who conducted this work's premiere) and even a trace of Copland's faux-Western accent."
He added, "It may also have been a manifesto of sorts, an assertive declaration that tonality and conventional structures still had something to say at a time when Serialism was ascendant.