Both the vocal melody and the accompaniment are in C major, but Ginastera "adds dissonance and dislocates tones horizontally to lend a polytonal aura to the background, [and] in the instrumental interludes between vocal stanzas, there is a frank espousal of bitonality, similar to sections of the earlier "Danzas Argentinas"" (Wallace, 86). As with "Chacarera," the words of "Gato," though not entirely nonsensical, are more significant for their rhythm than for their meaning. With the vocal part and the right hand of the "rudo" accompaniment in and the left hand in a relentlessly driving , "Gato" (as with some passages of "Chacarera") acquires the virile "machismo" of the "malambo"’s thrusting hemiolas. This is most evident in the "zapateo" interludes, in which the raw rhythmic intensity echos "Les Augures Printaniers / Danses des Adolescentes" in Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps", which Ginastera cited as one of his earliest and most powerful musical influences. Ginastera recommends the use of a "non-"legato" touch, accenting lightly on the first beat of each measure" to best communicate the "malambo"’s motoric, energetic rhythm (Sister Mary Ann Hanley, CSJ. "The Compositions for Solo Piano by Alberto Ginastera." D.M.A. thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1969: 21). In response to their premiere in Buenos Aires, "Gato" was hailed as "the highest achievement of the five songs...for its sheer dynamic impulse" ("La Nación", 14 July 1944, in Urtubey, 105).