"Brabbins also tends to moderate tempos - perhaps a little too slow to quite sustain the bleak tension of the passcaglia in No. 1, though compensating for the oddly disparate form of the finale of No. 2 with an extra weight"

"Notwithstanding Colin Davis's excellence in the first three Symphonies, Martyn Brabbins gives us commanding accounts of the first two - for our time, which should dispel any Twenty-First Century Blues, both works complemented by top-notch production values, vivid and dynamic sound, and informed annotation. All in all, unmissable"

"Symphony No. 1 remains a challenge to conductors as well as to recording technology, a challenge which this new version surmounts with polish and panache ... By showing how the central movements of the Second complement and balance the outer ones, Brabbins gives the music maximum cogency ... This is remarkable music-making, and recorded with all the appropriate richness of colour and clarity of textural detail"

"Recording of the week: This performance of the First is full of brilliant touches, whether it be the dancing oboes and bassoon in the third-movement Scherzo, lustrous strings in the Trio of the same movement, or the way that Brabbins manages to maintain clarity amongst the complex contrapuntal lines in the outer movements"

"Die vier Sinfonien des Briten Michael Tippett sind wichtige Beiträge zur Gattung im 20. Jahrhundert. Umso erstaunlicher, dass er bislang erst zwei Gesamteinspielungen gibt ... Martyn Brabbins ... lässt sich von dieser Musik kaum aus der Reserve locken: Er kontrolliert die vielen Stränge, die das unnachahmliche Gewebe der Tippett'schen Polyfonie ausmachen und führt sie immer zu einem sinnvollen, befreidiegenden Ende ... Eine geschlossen wirkende, gut strukturierte Tippett-Deutung"