`The idea for the poem arose when I, as part of the Mariinsky Theater orchestra, played the famous concert with Valery Gergiev on the ashes. I started working on the poem in October, when I found the material - it uses an Ossetian song. Completed in May. This is a 15-minute vocal-symphonic poem, it ends with a minute of silence. Thus, applause is inappropriate here.`(A.K.