Williams is accompanied throughout by his own orchestral reimaginings; and he’s evidently an orchestrator with a fine ear and lively imagination...This is all exquisitely sung too. The melodic contours of English song flow through Williams’s veins. He modulates them beautifully, drawing on a career-long experience of how to pace and shade them.

The seamless fit between Williams’s twin roles is the key to this album’s success. English art songs are far from a rarity on disc, but hearing them orchestrated is unusual, and the rewards of Williams’s artistry are undeniable. No singer could ask for a better showcase.

A must-have recording, not only for those who are devoted fans of Williams’s art but also those who are entranced by this wonderful repertoire.

This is an absolute treat, delivering everything it promises on paper and more...there's no sense of gilding the lily in Williams's evocative orchestrations, which exude affection and intimate acquaintance with all the repertoire here, but spring many delightful surprises along the way (the grandeur of William Browne's lovely 'To Gratiana, singing and dancing' being one example). If you can listen to his delicate, haunting arrangement of 'The Lads in their Hundreds' without choking up, you're made of sterner stuff than I am…

The baritone’s orchestrations of English songs and cycles respond with characteristic intuition and subtlety to the more familiar original works while evangelising persuasively on behalf of the more obscure...The fact that Williams sings these arrangements gives them a special frisson: you hear both his responses and interpretations. Fascinating.

The orchestration of all these songs is as careful and perceptive as one would expect from a musician who interprets them with such finesse. Crucially he recognises that less often means more, and that a touch of colour here or there can be more effective than anything gaudy...Williams matches that fastidiousness with performances that are a reminder that no other singer today inhabits this repertoire so completely and movingly. Every word is perfectly coloured, every phrase exactly weighted.

As elsewhere, Williams’s singing is completely in sympathy with the music, infinitely alive to the text, and his orchestrations shows the voice off to its best effect. This stunning album is a must-have for lovers, or would-be lovers, of this repertoire.

These songs portray the composers’ evocative responses to the poetry they set, and Williams’s orchestrations further convey the songs’ meanings through highly effective use of orchestral instruments and textures.