'Britten's glittering musical skills are everywhere in evidence, conjuring one brilliant stroke after another...'
Malcolm Hayes, The Daily Telegraph, 11 June 1990

'...the piece is notable for an opening depiction of chaos whose tugging rhythms recall the Lacrimosa from the Sinfonia da Requiem; for a remarkable account of War in Heaven for spoken male chorus with organ and brusque, Brittenesque timpani: and for a concluding setting of Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones tat was clearly a trial run for the last movement of the 1948 cantata St Nicholas.'
Nicholas Williams, The Independent, 11 June 1990