"Britten was an outstanding (if reluctant) conductor, and his 1964 account of the Sinfonia da Requiem with the New Philharmonia traces its course from grief and protest to acceptance with unmatched passion and conviction. And it takes only the fierce opening drumbeats to silence any possible doubts about the age of the recording: it was very good to start with, and it has been expertly remastered. The only conceivable complaint is that the next track follows too quickly, when what is really needed is about a minute of stunned silence."