The concerto well represents his late style: a synthesis of avant-garde explorations and traditional melodic and formal conventions.

The BBC's Stephen Johnson calls the concerto "a kind of cornucopia of effects and techniques, a wild collage of atmospheres and colors.

"[8] Among other effects, it uses "microtonality, rapidly changing textures, comic juxtapositions... Hungarian folk melodies, Bulgarian dance rhythms, references to medieval and Renaissance music and solo violin writing that ranges from the slow-paced and sweet-toned to the angular and fiery.

Thus, one violin and one viola in the orchestra tune their strings to the natural harmonics of the bass player.

The second movement can be loosely described as a set of variations adapted from the third of his Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (an arrangement of the seventh piece from Musica ricercata) but slowed down and nearly two octaves lower.