Some critics have compared the overall effect with the work of John Williams, notably his Star Wars score. Others have considered the choral elements of the Queen Symphony to be a nod to the rock band’s own lavish tendencies, in addition to Kashif’s spell as musical director of the London Amadeus Choir. The piece has been performed regularly and in 2004 received US and Dutch premières. Tolga Kahif conducted the Turkish première of Queen Symphony at the International Izmir Festival. He also directed the piece in Australia in two sold-out performances at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. These were broadcast on ABC Classic FM. He also conducted a UK tour in 2007.

Tolga Kashif said about his composition:

Along with their contemporaries David Bowie and Genesis (to name but two), Queen were part of a radical new wave challenging the boundaries of popular music. They were the embodiment of a raw artistic expression that presented itself through meticulously crafted recordings and performances, which remain for us an indispensable legacy and a gift for future generations. In many respects, Queen´s music is embedded in the juxtaposition of classic and rock genres; the sound may be rock-orientated but, when stripped down to the bare components, the core contains as valid a thematic basis for symphonic treatment as any work in this genre.

Former guitarist of Queen, Brian May, wrote about the composition:

Imagine a composer of the imagination and daring of a Tchaikovsky, a Holst, or a Mussorgsky. Imagine him let loose with the entire Queen catalogue of melodies, atmospheres and textures, and a vast orchestra and a huge choir. Then you´ll be close to imagining where this work begins. This is something monumental and quite outrageous. The most exciting element is probably that the composer is absolutely NOT under our control – he feels no need to use whole songs, or even whole melodies unless he feels like it at any one moment. He uses fragments, pieces of underscoring and wild extrapolations to paint his own pictures. Tolga Kashif is a man with his own agenda in this Symphony, based on the body of work which Queen built up over 30 years or so, but taking the material to an entirely new place.

This is the work of someone with a unique view and a new dream. I´m sure this composition, as usual with Queen-related works, will provoke some violent reactions. It breaks most of the ´rules´ of symphonic form. But I am equally sure it will become an immortal favourite in the repertoire of orchestras, both amateur and professional, because it will deeply move an audience every time. And no-one will be able to dispute Mr Kashif´s skill in conjuring up every possible colour from a full symphony orchestra. The Romantic Tradition is alive and well in Tolga Kashif (in my opinion)!!!