The third movement "Allegretto grazioso" is based on a dance melody Hovhaness originally wrote in high school for an operetta Lotus Blossom.
"[3] Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times also lauded the work, opining, "Enthralled with mystical Asia, Bach and mountains, Alan Hovhaness is often accused of writing formulaic, long-lined and heady counterpoint that predictably resolves into spiritually grandiose cadences.
But if his music is all of a mold, in the best of it the lingering melodies are gorgeous; the fugues, fabulously opulent; the finales, downright mood-elevating.
"[4] Andrew Farach-Colton of Gramophone gave the symphony a more mixed response, writing, "...City of Light (1970) has some lovely ideas, like the surprisingly sweet and simple string melody in the middle of the 'Angel of Light' movement (beginning at 1'30"), and the third movement, Allegretto grazioso, which sounds like a minuet in oriental garb.
"[5] Conversely, Annette Morreau of BBC Music Magazine criticized the work, in addition to Hovhaness's Symphony No.