Shaw’s ambitious Partita is a postmodern, polyphonic fantasia of sound and text. Reminiscent of Philip Glass’ contemporary masterpiece Einstein on the Beach, Shaw’s prismatic work—a winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music—derives its power from her juxtaposition of lines of abstract text spoken against colourful, shifting harmonies, creating an aura only possible from the most diligent painters of sound. The Passacaglia is a chromatic journey that blossoms into a rich study in timbre, and the Sarabande features brilliant tone groupings and uniquely modern polyphony.