Ekphrasis (Continuo II) for orchestra was written in 1996 on commission from the Music Festival of the Canaries and was premiered there in 1997 with the composer conducting the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Franfurt. This twenty-minute piece is a commentary on Continuo for orchestra (1990). Throughout his career, Luciano Berio has ever been mindful of the potential for many of his works to grow beyond their "finished" states, or to generate new and related pieces. Most of the Chemins series, in which solo Sequenzas are embedded in ensemble textures; Concerto II's use of Points on the curve to find ... as a central kernel; Sinfonia's appropriation of and commentary upon the scherzo of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, and conversely, the peeling away of layers that revealed Sequenza IX at the heart of Chemins V—these are some of the instances in which Berio explored alternative or expanded approaches to a particular idea or set of musical circumstances.

Typically, the original piece acts as a catalyst for a buildup of harmonic and textural ideas, like the armature of a sculpture. In the case of Ekphrasis (Continuo II), the piece seems rather to stand beside its predecessor, observing. The two pieces are nearly the same length and use orchestral forces of similar scope. Ekphrasis (Greek for "expression") is yet the more introverted piece; ideas from Continuo are reflected there as though dimly. The prevailing sonorities are string-based, in contrast with Continuo's relatively aggressive and active forces of wind instruments. The overall flow and form of the piece is similarly slow moving, spans of slowly evolving textures occasionally bifurcated by more active material.

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