"His vivid, trenchant string writing is realised with striking clarity by the Britten Sinfonia in this recording, made just a fortnight after the same performers gave the world premiere last October in London. The Sixteen's singing is predictably high in quality. Cries, shouts, whispers, glissandos, episodes of ululating melisma, all feature ... in [MacMillan's] quest to render musically the visceral emotional content of the Stabat Mater".