Wynne Delacoma of the Chicago Sun-Times observed, "The hall was full at the start of the evening, probably because Alfred Brendel was opening the program with Liszt's Piano Concerto No.
A portion of the audience didn't return from intermission to hear Shapey conduct his own work, and more left in the pauses between the four movements.
"[6] The music critic John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune similarly wrote, "There was a noticeable exodus of audience members between movements of Shapey's hourlong work and scattered boos at the end."
Despite this, Rhein added, "But the applause was considerable, and Chicago's most eminent composer, back in front of the CSO after 22 years, clearly savored the moment.
Shapey is about the only ecstatic visionary still working in serious music; he's a modern-day Icarus who thinks nothing of flying perilously close to the sun every chance he gets.
"[7] When the Pulitzer board demanded an alternative, threatening to forego a music prize for the year, the jury submitted Wayne Peterson's The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark.