'… the Coull Quartet has brought into the world a work that will retain a place in the repertoire … a string quartet of exceptionally high quality … the motivation in an inspired surge of melody is both unmistakable and emotionally convincing.'
The Times (Gerald Larner), 12 May 1995'…masterly. I'm tempted to declare this Quartet the finest example of its genre to have appeared anywhere, since Britten's Third. Certainly I know of no recent work that compares with it for eloquence, invention and sheer beauty: a complete score that I'd willingly deposit in a time capsule to show the next century what the 1990s could achieve.'
The Independent on Sunday (Michael White), 12 November 1995
'It begins in a spirit of restless lyricism which builds compellingly, eloquence and drama intensifying in ways which place the music firmly in the traditions of Berg and Bartók without any hint of abject dependency. The work is crowned by a concluding passacaglia which creates tension from the superimposition of contrasting layers of texture before reaching a climax with a unison line for all four players, a moment of revelation which subsides into a regretful resolution.'
Gramophone (Arnold Whittall), October 2007