The story is told from the perspective of three characters: a man from an unnamed country moving from hardship to hardship as he seeks a better life in Europe, and the woman and child he has left behind. The choir serves as a Greek chorus, while a politician (a speaking role) intervenes intermittently with refrains that will be familiar to many European ears: “The boat cannot dock at our port,” “Why should we deal with this problem?” and, “We do not want strangers on our streets.”

Mr. Toibin said in a telephone interview that the work was “a simple story, almost a folk tale,” in which the main characters “sing their own stories,” focusing on the personal to “stir emotions.” But “Winter Journey” is not a simple call for open borders , he said. “Even though it is clear where my sympathies lie, I am alert to the complexity of the argument and that has to be registered.”

Mr. Einaudi is both a prolific composer (this year, he released “Seven Days Walking,” a series of seven albums that came out over seven months) and a versatile one, drawing on various influences.

African music — which Mr. Einaudi studied on the continent — informed the composition of “Winter Journey,” he said. “I am well acquainted with the instrumental and vocal nuances of that part of the world, and so in composing the orchestral parts, I created a nest in which these voices could nestle in a natural way.”