Lieberson's Horn Concerto was commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and had its premiere at Carnegie Hall in February 1999, with soloist William Purvis. The composer has written the following note.

"I think of the horn as an instrument of the heart. Every time I began to reason in a conceptual way, the concerto seemed bogged down and I would begin again in a more intuitive way. Finally I got the message that the Horn Concerto would be composed of more spontaneous gestures and always with a focus on the horn itself. The horn takes on different moods and characters in the concerto; often lyrical but sometimes very dramatic and feisty, sometimes energetic and athletic."