According to Tim Page of The New York Times, Ewazen’s music contains “a
mixture of formal Neo-Classicism and direct, near-pictorial lyricism, combined with a
folkish, Vaughn Williams-like use of modes and just a hint of popular song.”6 Barry
Kilpatrick, in a review of a recording of Ewazen’s works for bass trombone for the
American Record Guide, wrote: “His harmonic progressions are interesting, his key
centers shift often and in seemingly unpredictable ways, his rhythms are lively and
often syncopated, and his music has a noble quality that fits brass instruments well.”