Reviewing the world premiere, David Patrick Stearns of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "Muhly's Mixed Messages has an intriguing title - but there's nothing murky in this knock-out orchestral showpiece that does the work of a Berlioz overture but in 21st-century post-minimalist terms."
Stearns added, "A bedrock of propulsive rhythms enjoys playful counterpoint with whatever is unfolding on top, all orchestrated in a quasi-Rachmaninoff sound envelope.
"[3] Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times further remarked:The piece opens with fractured brassy fanfares countered by tremulous string ostinatos that slip into bursts of subdued, frenetic arpeggio-like figures.
Contradictions keep happening: low rumbling strings bump against snarling brass; fitful phrases in one bastion of the orchestra blithely overlap cosmic sonorities in another.
It overstays its welcome a little, and the tension dips towards the deliberately perfunctory end, but it's nicely tailored both to the orchestra's prowess and its distinctive, glamorous sound, all plush strings, virile-sounding brass and mellow woodwind.