The work is structured on multiple melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and contrapuntal themes created with an emphasis on our renewal of these traditional musical elements within a meta-modern cultural context. “Galatea” features an opening, slowly syncopated, choral-like section in a moderate Andante tempo with melodic or motivic exchanges between all the instruments of the quartet. There is a sense in the first half of the work of three realms — lower, middle, and high — modulating across multiple  key centres and musical modes interwoven with continuously evolving, often florid, melodies. This is followed by a contrasting and darker middle section with a dramatic, very spacial musical rise and catastrophic fall and a subsequent ambiguous, extended moment of pizzicato playing with loud dynamics, complex rhythms, and extended harmonies. This section leads eventually to a slow reemergence of the main choral and its melodic themes. The musical narrative then moves forward, passing through questioning pauses and hesitations that are expressed through motivic exchanges between the two violins. The music arrives finally at an end moment suggestive of the ecstatic possibility inherent in Galatea's consciousness of being human.