The composition is written for mezzo-soprano, piano, guitar and electronics. To capture the magical and surreal world of Sor Juana's dream, the pianist is often asked to play directly on the strings of the piano, using such implements as an electric brush; and the guitarist, among other unconventional ways of playing, pulls an extra, resonating string which he has braided between his metal strings. Special electronic effects are often used on the voice and instruments: amplification, distortion, reverb, echo, pitch shift, flange, chorus.

The 17th century Mexican poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is commonly considered one of the great poets of Latin America. Sor Juana was a brilliant and charming intellectual, whose cultural soirées at her convent were characterized by their profundity and high spirit until the Inquisition and the intolerance of the times drove her away from her literary pursuits and eventually to her death. An early feminist, she was among the first to defend the good aspects of native religion, while synthesizing classical and Christian culture.