The United States premiere was presented at the Caramoor Summer Music Festival on 25 June 1967 with Andrea Velis as Nebuchadnezzar.

[3] The scale and manner of instrumentation are similar to those in Curlew River, but one notable difference is the use of the alto trombone.

[4] Clifford Hindley has commented on a reading of a subtext sympathetic to homosexuality on the part of both Britten and Plomer in their treatment of the story.

However, God saves them from death, as the voice of an angel joins the Israelites in a 'Benedicite'.

Britten himself, along with Viola Tunnard, supervised the first commercial recording of this work, for Decca/London,[7] with the following participants: The instrumentalists were Richard Adeney (flute), Neill Sanders (horn), Roger Brenner (trombone), Cecil Aronowitz (viola), Keith Marjoram (double bass), Osian Ellis (harp), James Blades (percussion) and Philip Ledger (organ).