The composer (and former Sibelius pupil) Leevi Madetoja further praised the score upon review, writing in "Uusi Suometar" in July 1914 that Sibelius, rather than "repeat endlessly" the style of his previous works, had yet again shown his penchant for "renewing himself musically ... always forward, striving for new aims". The Finnish critic Karl Wasenius (aka BIS), writing in "Hufvudstadsbladet" after the birthday celebration performances of 1915, wrote approvingly of Sibelius's "refined mastery" of technique. "Not a single note is wasted on brash effects", Wasenius continued. "Yet mighty things are still achieved. Sibelius gives us the expanse and magnitude of the ocean, its powerful wave-song but without boastful gestures. He is too noble for that". In "Tidning för musik", Otto Anderssen interpreted Sibelius's latest compositions (among them "The Oceanides") as yet another indicator that he was among the most forward-looking modernists: "Sibelius is, I believe, a man of the future ... constantly ahead of his time. Now he stands at the heights where the horizon stretches out over fields which the rest of us cannot yet see". Cecil Gray, moreover, calls the piece "daring" and applauds the score's "exceptional complexity and refinement", challenging critics who see Sibelius as a "primitive artist".