‘A blazing triumph! Marvellous stuff!’ (Gramophone)

'The group’s diction is so perfect that no-one will have a problem following the English numbers, and even the French pieces were clear enough for me to understand most of what was going on … a triumphant evening, then, and a fitting tribute to one of the UK’s greatest cultural exports. Fans of good singing should not hesitate' (MusicWeb International)

‘This is among the best recordings of this repertoire … I will always enjoy being challenged to listen to these works in such fresh and sensitive interpretations as these’ (American Record Guide)

‘There are some outstanding renditions here … Newton is fresh-voiced and immediate, and Brooks is a vigorous accompanist’ (Early Music)

‘Duo Trobairitz re-create the sound world and the artistic idiom with sufficient authority that, were the original creators of this music to come back and hear these performances … they would have stamped their feet in approval … the lovely anonymous Bele Doette in which Newton's disarmingly charming voice and Brooks's sensitive playing on the vielle evoke a world which, while distant and remote from ours, clearly relished the same profound response to the kind of emotions which affect mankind, be it a twelfth-century knight or a twenty-first-century audiophile. On the subject of audiophiles, Hyperion has captured these delightful performances with ideal depth and intimacy’ (International Record Review)

‘Faye Newton and Hazel Brooks build compelling, eloquent performances around the evocative words of their repertoire’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Most of these songs from medieval France explore the infinite emotional complexities of hopeless love. Soprano Faye Newton characterises their wide-ranging, rhapsodic melodic lines so as to evoke both unbearable pain and despair and brief moments of joy. On the lighter side, she brings wry humour to tales of pastoral seduction, and of a spirited wife whose husband objects to her boyfriend. Hazel Brooks's piquant vielle provides atmospheric accompaniments that perfectly enhance all these moods, as well as some delightful dances’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘An exemplary medieval disc from this young duo. The troubadour material is various … and the performers are beguiling. Faye Newton's pure, vibrato-light soprano suggests Emma Kirkby with rouged cheeks; while Hazel Brooks's accompaniments lift the vielle, a rustic lyre, to an instrument of enchantment … with these artists time stands still. A 'chill-out' hit in the making’ (The Times)

‘If you’ve ever struggled through Badarzewska’s Maiden’s Prayer, tripped yourself up in Dvořák’s Humoresque in G flat, or wondered how the simple lines of MacDowell’s To a wild rose would sound in capable, smooth-contoured professional hands, this is the disc for you’ (The Irish Times)

'A welcome Christmas release which captures the resonant acoustic of the City of London's Temple Church, where we have enjoyed notable musical experiences during the year, especially Monteverdi's Vespers—and next door in Middle Temple Hall, a fine series of Temple Song recitals. A particular pleasure it was to renew acquaintance with Britten's splendid Rejoice in the Lamb, which exemplifies his special flair in choosing texts for setting to music. I was delighted to hear again its fanciful and eccentric Christopher Smart poem and to be reminded that my small son Simon was once its Mouse, 'a creature of great personal valour', before going on to great things as the leading boy treble soloist of his generation' Well recorded and supplied with full texts. There is a companion release of English organ music played at Temple Church' (Musical Pointers)

‘Gothic Voices at its most imaginative. The group's choice of repertory is sublime and the freedom of its interpretation is bracing. Recommended’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The beauty of this once-so-remote music is all immaculately tuned and articulated: what else do you expect from Gothic Voices? … I hope those who didn't collect the set first time are doing so now’ (Early Music Review)