‘… had an unmistakable Australian accent in its throbbing phrases for low strings and in the dream-time patience of drawn-out melodies, which can only be called though the word is in disrepute among most contemporary composers beautiful.  This must be one of his most appealing works.’
The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) (Fred Blanks), 31 October 1986 

‘As with many composers around the Pacific rim, Sculthorpe has deliberately blended non-Western music traditions with his own Western training.  The rhythmic patterns of Indonesian gamelan music is obvious tricky little rhythms that pulse beneath serene snippets of melody.  Obvious, too, is a sense of symmetry as the sonata begins and ends with movements called, Sun Song.  Two chorales, which Bach would recognize as kin, fit between these Sun Songs with, in the central position, an interlude of free invention.  It is a good, strong piece that falls easily on the ear.’
The Denver Post (USA) (Glenn Giffin), 26 June 1988