Excerpts from the Liner Notes (by Reynold Meni)

Composed as Gaines' doctoral dissertation at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and dedicated to his parents, Leonard and Carolyn Gaines, this remarkable symphony for mezzo-soprano and orchestra received its world premiere on October 7th, 2000 at Philharmonic Hall in Olomouc, Czech Republic, following two days of recording sessions. Vít Micka conducted the Moravian Philharmonic with the American mezzo-soprano Kimball Wheeler as soloist. This momentous occasion, where dozens of Esperantists from across the country came to hear this work, marked a first in music history - the performance and recording of a symphonic work using text in the international language Esperanto.

The creation of a never-before-attempted composition was his overriding goal. As he was both a student of and advocate for Esperanto, he decided to compose a work for orchestra and voice using Esperanto texts. A research grant from Peabody enabled the discovery of appropriate texts on a trip to England (most notably at the renowned library of the British Esperanto Association in London) and Bulgaria in 1994.