Its world premiere was given by the violinist Nicola Benedetti and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev at the Perth Concert Hall on 28 September 2022.
Reviewing the world premiere, Simon Thompson of The Sunday Times called the concerto "a radiant jewel of a piece that seemed to inhabit a multitude of human emotions while guiding the listener through them with luminous clarity."
"[4] Richard Sylvester Oliver of the Texas Classical Review similarly remarked, "MacMillan's eclectic musical language, marked by a firm emotional directness, is an elegant marriage of the modern and traditional, often spinning simple ideas into complex textures without sacrificing accessibility.
"[5] Rowena Smith of The Guardian was slightly more critical, however, describing it as "an at times intensely discomfiting piece, the single-movement 25-minute span a journey through a dark landscape with the soloist cast in the role of traveller across an ever-shifting orchestral terrain."
She concluded, "It is a work as intriguing and evocative as it is approachable, even if at first hearing the shift into the light in the closing bars doesn’t quite convince.