Its world premiere was given by the New England Conservatory of Music Philharmonia conducted by Hugh Wolff at the Symphony Hall, Boston, on April 18, 2018.
[1] Laurence Vittes of Gramophone gave the symphony a positive review, observing that "you can feel the times in the music by the influences (Nhat Hanh, John Cage and Handel) and the themes.
"[2] Joseph E. Morgan of the Music City Review also praised the piece, writing, "With his Fourth Symphony, entitled Chromelodeon, [Kernis] has created a world that is richly chromatic, marked by unease, contemplative intensity and, in the first movement particularly, obsessive rumination.
"[3] Geoff Brown of BBC Music Magazine was more critical of the piece, however, remarking, "Kernis's energy and technical skills remain startling, but his struggle for symphonic significance exposes more limits than strengths in his use of the subtitle's constituent parts (chromatics, colour, melody).
Notes pile up to a choking degree and the finale is empty chatter, while the central slow movement that chews over Handel's aria 'Laschia ch'io pianga' remains more meretricious than meaningful.