In Boulez's hands, this music sounds as it should: immensely expressive, enormously concentrated, totally unyielding, and utterly uncompromising.

As they used to say back in the fin de siècle, for every generation, it's art. How could one argue? Every generation has its own life and its own world and its own history and every generation has the right to its own artistic prophet. But should every generation's art appeal to the next generation, or the generation after that, or the generation after that? In his generation, Schoenberg was anathema to almost everyone not accepted into his elect band of disciples who revered him as the prophet of modern music. After his death, Schoenberg was still anathema to almost everybody except the next generation of disciples, and that generation gave the world performances of the prophet's music that made it sound as austere and forbidding as possible. But, finally, after three generations, the disciples were able to relax a bit and give the world performances of the prophet's music that made it sound as close to appealing as the music has ever gotten. In these recordings of Schoenberg's choral music by Pierre Boulez and the BBC Singers and BBC Chorus, the prophet's music still sounds like the prophet's music: immensely expressive, enormously concentrated, totally unyielding, and utterly uncompromising. But at least the music is accurately directed and accurately performed so for once it is clearly and lucidly presented, which is more than one can say for earlier recordings. And if the prophet's music still sounds forbidding to most listeners, well, there is only so much performers can do and remain faithful to the spirit of the music and of the prophet. For true believers, however, these discs will provide proof positive of the greatness of the man and the music.

-- James Leonard, AllMusic.com