James R. Oestreich of The New York Times described the music as "glacially shifting blocks of harmony giving rise to explosions of strident color.
It is thus a recent example of Lindberg's considerable prowess as a purveyor of brightly coloured, brilliantly orchestrated scores, including a much higher percentage of genuinely fast music than composers tend to produce these days.
It is also, however, a good example of its creator's move away from rhythm, gesture and sheer sonority as prime features to greater concern for harmonic thinking in the context of goal-directed structures.
"[4] Gramophone similarly observed:Cantigas begins calmly‚ the interval of a perfect fifth permeating its opening oboe melody.
There may be a lack of heart‚ but‚ as in much of Lindberg's recent music‚ the musical current is immensely compelling‚ the colours are precisely applied‚ and the closing bars bring a genuine and surprising sense of apotheosis.