Robert Quinney

“After seven years at the helm, James O'Donnell has made a formidable singing outfit of the Westminster Abbey Choir...The treble line is robust and thrilling, its soloist, Jacob Ewens, a sinuous star in Britten's Te Deum in E. The ensemble is well balanced in the polyphony of Philips's Ascendit Deus and confidently tuned in the awe-filled modernism of Gowers's Viri Galilei, while the organist, Robert Quinney, does more than his share in the dazzling accompaniments.” The Times, 26th April 2008 ****

“The choir of Westminster Abbey under James O'Donnell sing with the happy care which his choristers at the Cathedral used to bing to their work with hin. If the echo calls attention to itself at the start, the ears soon adjust. They are not going to complain with so much to enjoy. ” Gramophone Magazine, June 2008

‘The choir, atmospherically recorded in the Abbey itself, sings this demanding repertoire with its customary zeal and a well-blended sound, and the performances are directed with the panache and style one has come to expect from James O’Donnell. Robert Quinney’s contribution as organist culminates in a Laus Deo from Jonathan Harvey aptly described by O’Donnell in his booklet note as “the opulent psychedelia of [Messiaen’s] Turangalîla compressed into four minutes”’ (The Daily Telegraph)

"It’s quite an achievement to pull off orchestral transcriptions for the organ that don’t have you missing the original, but Robert Quinney manages this on the magnificent Westminster Cathedral instrument. He utterly convinces that even Wagner’s Meistersinger overture works as an organ piece in its own right – and finds translucent textures rather than walls of sound." Gramophone Magazine

‘Early notice is served of how well the Abbey’s choristers are currently singing … an admirably varied programme, with excellent Hyperion recording’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘A very polished and confident performance. Quinney gives equally fluent renditions of the Voluntary and ‘Fancie for My Lady Nevell’, completing a disc that fulfils its brief with distinction’ (Gramophone)

‘I’m so taken with this program that I frankly rebel at the notion of spending one sentence, much less a paragraph, on the topic of alternative recordings’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Baker entices some of the most wonderful singing from his choir here while Robert Quinney and Houssart positively revel in their virtuoso interplay. It almost goes without saying that Hyperion’s recording captures the full effect of Maxwell Davies’ astonishing writing’ (Gramophone)