In Roman mythology, Narcissus was a man so exceedingly handsome that all women who saw him fell in love with him. He spurned them all, but one day spied his own reflection in a pool.

"Bronze Narcissus" uses strict melodic inversion to suggest Narcissus and his reflection. Placement of "mirror points" at D and A-flat ensures that in performance, "black" batons are always mirrored by "black" batons, while "white" batons are always mirrored by "white" batons. Thus the handling by the two players is exactly mirrored.

Narcissus is introduced at once. His reflection is introduced in measure 19. Narcissus becomes besotted with his reflection starting at measure 35.

The mythological Narcissus pines to death at the poolside, subsequently turning into a flower. But in this piece, Narcissus and his reflection "break through the mirror" at measure 59 and interact, with much crossing of hands.

—David Maker