Reviewing the West Coast premiere of '' Insomnia '' in San Francisco , Mark Swed of the '' Los Angeles Times '' called the piece " newsworthy " and wrote , " Written in the aftermath of 9/11 and first performed in Tokyo at the end of 2002 , it is more darkly tinted than his typically bright orchestral music . The unusual incorporation of four Wagner tubas gives the overall sound a dusky mass . " He added , " But what is truly extraordinary about the 22-minute score is the way it grips attention . Insomnia is not , for most people , a pleasurable sensation . Here , though , it is , as Salonen , through an exceptional command of a large orchestra , explores the more distant and sometimes ecstatic reaches of the involuntarily alert mind . " Stephen Johnson of '' BBC Music Magazine '' also praised the work , writing : Arnold Whittall of '' Gramophone '' was more critical , however , remarking , " The 21-minute , single-movement work '' Insomnia '' displays a similar lack of differentiation , the great washes of sound more effective in keeping a large orchestra busy than in promoting a persuasive musical argument . "
9/11
September 11 attacks
Insomnia (composition)