Saariaho states that the starting point for Nymphea Reflection came from the idea of arranging her stringquartet Nymphea. Originally working on a straight arrangement, she eventually realised that this would be very difficult, and she'd need to find a new way of composing that particular piece of music. She designed a formal conceptfor each of the six sections, imbuing them with very different characters. 

Her simulation of electronic processing by means of orchestration is an innovative take on a new form, while the effect ofthe poem by Arseniy Tarkovsky, whispered by the musicians gives a haunting new perspective to both music and words.