In many ways, The King of Denmark is an anti-percussion piece. Its notation on a graph indicates how many sounds are to be played per beat and whether they are to be in high, medium, or low registers. Even though a tempo runs throughout, no rhythmic coherence emerges.
Sounds simply float out, detached and weightless.
One instrument has no more sonic gravity than another does. They are sounds in many different loudnesses, but they are being heard from different distances. It sounds as soft as the little bell six inches from your ear. Mirages of distance appear and evaporate again into music. It is like rain or the sound of rain.