Continuing the theme of song cycles, two new-ish works by the Devon-based composer John Byrt have recently been issued by a small local publisher, Nymet Music, and are worth looking at by sopranos searching for new repertoire. The first, Four Songs (1994), is for mezzo soprano and sets texts by women poets - Byrt specifically states that he wanted to get away from women having to sing men's songs, or worse, having to sing women's songs with texts by men. The result is an enjoyable cycle told entirely from a woman's point of view, the women in question being An Collins, Charlotte Lennox and Christina Rosetti, whose individual voices ring candid and true across the centuries. Byrt's music is tonal, sometimes simple, often tuneful, never superficial - Mathias and Britten, perhaps, would be his closest equivalents. The cycle is also effectively structured, with the longest, most narrative setting placed last.

Matthew Greenall, The Singer, August/September 2005