'' America : A Prophecy '' has been praised by music critics . Reviewing the world premiere program " Messages for the Millennium , " James R. Oestreich of '' The New York Times '' called it " the strongest work here , roiling and disturbing , perhaps the project 's prime asset . " Oestreich also noted generally unenthusiastic responses from concertgoers , remarking , " And as Beth Clayton , a mezzo-soprano , feelingly delivered Mr. Ades 's apocalyptic message ... nearby patrons snoozed , one snoring loudly . The return message , evidently , is that the millennium will bring business as usual . It is surely possible . " Reviewing a 2008 performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic , Mark Swed of the '' Los Angeles Times '' called the music " riveting and extraordinary " and wrote , " A circular motif swirls through the orchestra , the sodden state . The mezzo sings in a flat , un-modulated tone , the voice of another world , unheeded , the Maya 's Cassandra . The chorus sings Spanish and Latin texts of war from the 15th and 16th centuries . The brass section dances the steps of merry , murderous invaders . The piece turns into a dark lament in its second half . ' Ash , ' the mezzo sings -- without vibrato , as if dazed -- ' feels no pain . ' " The music was similarly praised by Tom Service of '' The Guardian '' , who criticized American orchestras for failing to program the piece after the September 11 attacks . Service opined , " It was composed in 1999 as one of the New York Philharmonic 's Messages for the Millennium . But these LA performances are only the second time the work has been heard in the US since then . The reason is n't hard to fathom . ... with America then prosperous , the message scarcely chimed with the times . Later , after 9/11 , Adès 's dramatisation of the end of empire , its certainty that the cycle of rise and fall would repeat itself in contemporary America , was too raw for US orchestras to programme . " He concluded :
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
America: A Prophecy