'...among the most delicately laid out, appealing, and atmospherically sensitive music he has composed.'
The Times, 4 July 1966
'The freshness is enchanting but there is an elliptical quality to it that confers a strange note of regret and even puzzlement. It is most openly marked in 'The nightingale and the rose'; but the final song...is a striking addition to Britten's range over the music of night and indeed crystallises most clearly this whole vein of his imagination.'
The Sunday Telegraph, 10 July 1966
The Times, 4 July 1966
'The freshness is enchanting but there is an elliptical quality to it that confers a strange note of regret and even puzzlement. It is most openly marked in 'The nightingale and the rose'; but the final song...is a striking addition to Britten's range over the music of night and indeed crystallises most clearly this whole vein of his imagination.'
The Sunday Telegraph, 10 July 1966