"[4] Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times called the piece "terrific" and observed, "As the creation saga unfolds, the music is at once reverent and playful.
Long episodes evolve in arcs of brilliant piano writing where restless, filigreed, spiraling figures cascade down the keyboard."
In the final section, 'Contemplation,' the theme is presented straightforwardly as the music slowly disperses into silence, to suggest touchingly that the work of creation is done.
[3]George Hall of The Guardian opined, "Adès possesses the gift of producing striking and immediate ideas that are nevertheless subtly ambiguous in their impact.
Here, the Copland-like simplicity of the opening gestures forms a platform for successive processes of variation, development and contrast that eventually return to their starting point.
[9] Conversely, Niels Swinkels of the San Francisco Classical Voice criticized the piece, remarking, "Unfortunately, all I heard was one banal idea morphing into the next, vague references to symphonic rock or to movie soundtracks, endless, rippling motion up and down unimaginative scale progressions..." He added, "It is perfectly possible that Adès's reputation has influenced my expectations too far, and I will certainly explore his music further.