The orchestration includes a "hisser", a carbon dioxidetank that makes a hissing noise, whose use is optional.[3] His first three symphonies were inspired by his need to flee Nazi Germany and move to America.[3]
Selecting the piece the jury wrote: "one of his finest works, of sure craftsmanship, contemporary in feeling, without self-conscious striving for the new and the original, beautiful and brilliant in orchestral sound."[4]