‘An advocate of rare intelligence … this is an extremely valuable addition to Hyperion's still-expanding Simpson discography. The recording is simply superb, and Raymond Clarke's accounts almost beyond praise in their penetration, technical command and diablerie (listen to the sulphurous ending of the Beethoven Variations)’ (Tempo)

‘Gripping works … Raymond Clarke is the ideal advocate’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Here is music of enormous power and inimitable character, performed with immense authority and understanding. Admirable sound. A very strong recommendation’ (Hi-Fi News)

‘I am reeling from having listened to this disc. These three major works and a little miniature have all the Simpson features that his symphonies and string quartets revealed: intellectual rigour, dazzling but controlled powers of imagination, and, overall, a craggy grandeur. The Variations, with its enigmatically soft ending, should have you on the edge of your seat. This is a marvellous addition to Hyperion's pioneering series’ (Classic CD)

‘Hats off to Hyperion for such a sensibly priced and stylish repackaging of one of the great recording projects of the last two decades – the recording of the eleven symphonies of Robert Simpson … In a superbly cogent and insightful booklet-essay newly commissioned for this slim-line box set Calum McDonald describes Robert Simpson’s cycle of symphonies as “surely one of the most imposing bodies of work of any British composer … Simpson is a symphonist of European stature, whose music deserves to be known the world over.” This last disc was dedicated to the memory of Hyperion’s indefatigable founder Ted Perry and forms a handsome conclusion to a towering achievement for everyone involved’ (Classical Source)

‘This set is the way to acquire the Simpson symphonies’ (MusicWeb International)

‘These are outstanding recordings of music that is always adventurous and challenging yet ultimately rewarding’ (NewClassics.com)

‘In lieu of live shows, please buy any or all of the Hyperion Simpson discs. Buy the Ninth Quartet, the First Quartet, the Third and Fifth Symphonies, the Second or Fourth, all the quartets, all the symphonies … but start soon, or you’ll miss a lifetime’s inspiration. This is serious music, through which one determined Englishman hurled down the gauntlet to the self-regarding second half of the 20th century, and helped justify once more music’s claim to be the most elevating, questing, and stimulating accompaniment to the life we all lead’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘One of the best-kept secrets of post-war British Music … utterly compelling’ (The Guardian)

‘One of the outstanding recording projects of our time … this Hyperion series deserves to stand as a monument while other more superficially glamorous ventures rise and fall around it. If it does not do so, and if it does not eventually force Simpson’s breakthrough into the orchestral repertoire, there will truly be no justice’ (Gramophone)

‘The Dante Quartet has developed into a force to be reckoned with … each player contributes bag-loads of personality, drawing out the chill winds of Sibelius and the earthy rhythms of Smetana's Czech polkas’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘The Dante Quartet can scarcely be faulted … each performance is eloquent, intense and emotionally gripping … the D minor Quartet has an entirely appropriate earthiness and the urgency of all the fast movements is compelling’ (Gramophone)