‘This work could not be better sung than, as here, by the choir of Westminster Cathedral’ (Contemporary Review)

‘Ensemble is watertight throughout, and the Hyperion engineers have done a very good job of capturing the live-ness of the acoustic without every succumbing to muddiness. In sum, this is a brightly focused, clear-as-day tour through Palestrina’s Christmas music that seems to evoke Mediterranean sun rather than northern European snow … you have a good excuse to investigate’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘Hyperion again! For sheer enterprise, a disc comprising nonets by Parry and Stanford takes some beating … it almost goes without saying that the recording is first class, and so are the performances’ (Gramophone)

‘Parry has his own distinction; witness the winsome and ardent D major Sonata―lovely in its melodies and heartfelt in emotions―and the Fantasie Sonata traces a rich vein of lyricism. The Pieces are each engaging and pleasing. The splendid performances are naturally recorded’ (Classical Source)

‘A landmark recording. Go and buy it’ (Choir & Organ)

‘Polyphony's singing is immensely cultivated; bright, clear, immaculately phrased, and gorgeously balanced’ (American Record Guide)

‘Outstandingly good on each front: clarity, balance, intonation, timbre, dynamic and textural control and, perhaps most important of all, feeling’ (Classic CD)

‘Committed and definitive performances of this intense music’ (Organists' Review)

‘Pärt's music remains an object of unstinting wonder’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The singing on this disc is little short of stunning: Polyphony's sense of ensemble is second to none, and conductor Stephen Layton paces these works with an unerring sense of Pärt's instinctive feeling for space and texture. The recording, in London's Temple Church, adds a luminuous aura of its own … a deeply satisfying listening experience’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Layton's superb choir responds eagerly to the different challenges of the various choral traditions from which these pieces derive … Polyphony give meticulous performances … perhaps the most powerful piece is the haunting Burns setting for countertenor, My heart's in the highlands, beautifully performed by David James and Christopher Bowers-Broadbent’ (The Sunday Times)

‘There's a line in this disc's title track, from an Orthodox ode addressed to Saint Nicholas: "therewithal hast thou acquired: by humility—greatness, by poverty—riches". This might have been written about Arvo Pärt's compositional technique, here liberated from the minimalist strictures of earlier decades, treading a fine line between agony and ecstasy in a way unparalleled since Bach … Arvo Pärt's new disc of choral music conveys a quiet and cumulative power, given performances of luminous purity by Polyphony and Stephen Layton’ (BBCi)