This concerto has the character of a fantasia rather than a traditional concerto, unfolding in two broad sections. The first is quiet and serene, featuring rhapsodic melodies and transparent textures. The second builds from a powerful dynamic rise into a brief burst of fast, intense music before settling into a quiet, transcendent close.

Scored originally for the U.S. Air Force Band, the work makes prominent use of cello sonorities. For ensembles without cellos, all cello parts have been cued...