On first hearing this issue on LP in 1971, Alec Robertson felt convinced that ''performances and recordings as good as these'' would not be allowed to vanish rapidly from the catalogue. His confidence has proved well founded: they remained listed for ten years and have now returned, cleaner and with more impact than ever, on CD. Very welcome they are, too. The Missa brevis ('brevis' only because of its concision, not the omission of any sections) is given in the later, finely scored orchestral version of 1950 (a fact over which the presentation note is misleading) rather than the organ original favoured by Heltay (on a Decca Jubilee LP) and some critics, though for concert rather than liturgical use this seems preferable. Either way, it is a splendid and very beautiful work, worthy to rank with the Psalmus Hungaricus (though very different from the burning nationalism of that masterpiece): it makes considerable demands on the chorus—especially the sopranos, whose part often lies cruelly high. However, the present singers surmount these with a firm assurance and sensitive tonal gradations that uphold the excellence of the choral tradition in Hungary which Kodaly himself so greatly championed and furthered.
The Te Deum celebrating the 250th anniversary of the recapture of Buda castel from the Turks is a more overtly national festive work in many sections that, if they do not form an entirely convincing whole, are often individually very impressive.'