Yakov and the Seven Thieves first two releases were "The English Roses" (September 2003), and "Mr. Peabody's Apples" (November 2003). Both debuted at number one on "The New York Times" Best Seller list. Joe D'Angelo from MTV News confirmed that the third book would be titled "Yakov and the Seven Thieves". Madonna was again inspired by a 300 year-old story by rabbi Baal Shem Tov that she had heard from her Kabbalah teacher, and wanted to share the "essence" of it. "We must never forget that hidden behind a large amount of darkness is a large amount of light," the singer wrote in the preface.
The Stars and the Roses the "San Francisco Chronicle" called the piece "a short but lushly expressive suite of three orchestral songs" and wrote, ""The Stars and the Roses" needed no help in making its effect felt. With its poignant, resourceful orchestral writing and clarion text-setting, the piece illuminates Milosz's poetry (in English translation) in a subtle but evocative way." Jeff Dunn of the "San Francisco Classical Voice" similarly lauded, "The orchestration is the immediate strong point of the piece, but unlike the in-your-face symphony, Stucky's motivic content and progression may require repeated listenings for its subtleties to become manifest." Stucky rewrote the piece in