‘As hypnotic as the star-filled night sky … so utterly absorbing is this symphony that I have hardly given a thought to the performance or the recording … which is surely the best possible tribute to all concerned’ (Gramophone)

‘Awesome’ (The Independent)

‘A most powerful experience: concentrated, awesome, and as mysterious as some astronomical phenomenon. Played superbly, and no less superbly recorded’ (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

‘Characteristically rugged and uncompromising, but with touches of fantasy, visionary inwardness and wit. This is music that nourishes the soul’ (Gramophone)

‘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)