 In its original conception, the text for the chorus was to be written by André Malraux.Later, Varèse settled on a multi-lingual text of hieratic phrases to be sung by choirs situated in Paris, Moscow, Beijing and New York City, synchronized to create a global radiophonic event.Varèse sought input on the text from Henry Miller, who suggests in "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" that this grandiose conception—also ultimately unrealized—eventually metamorphosed into "Déserts".