[Symphony] the overall effect is classic MacMillan: musically eclectic (from radiantly tonal to blisteringly dissonant), powerfully dramatic, and filled with ecstatic textural contrasts...Even by MacMillan’s standards, the second movement is filled with a remarkable variety of contrasts... these two works (especially the symphony) are excellent additions to his already large catalog. Performances are (as one would expect from the forces involved) superb.

These are performances created not by tension or intimidation but by love—love of music, love of performing, and love of God. Christophers’s and The Sixteen’s long-running association with MacMillan guarantee that these performances leave no potential unrealized. The Britten Sinfonia’s contribution is on the same level, and all in all, I cannot imagine a better performance of either of these works.

MacMillan’s Fifth Symphony receives an absorbing premiere at the Barbican from Britten Sinfonia and The Sixteen under Harry Christophers and one can certainly relate to it on several levels...After a series of loud and dramatic collisions, the music settles into the more familiar surroundings of MacMillan’s mature choral style, with melismatic vocal lines overlapping and echoing one another.