 A small professional ensemble underpins the mainly amateur orchestra which contains numerous unconventional instruments to provide particular musical effects; bugle fanfares for the animals, handbell chimes for the rainbow, and various improvisations to replicate musically the sounds of a storm.At its premiere "Noye's Fludde" was acclaimed by critics and public alike, both for the inspiration of the music and the brilliance of the design and production.The opera received its American premiere in New York in March 1959, and its first German performance at Ettal in May of that year.