Newcomers to Simpson are advised to go straight to Hyperion's Sixth and Seventh Symphonies disc (reviewed by DJF on page 36): the direct and splendidly bracing Sixth would make an ideal introduction. This is perhaps more for those who know their Simpson—who know that his music doesn't always reveal its riches on first hearing. While neither quartet impresses me quite so much as the brilliant Ninth or the mysterious and compelling Seventh (at least not yet), I've found that after only a few hearings they've both begun to estabished a strong character of their own—especially the Tenth whose title For Peace is reflected not in any crudely pictorial manner, but (as Simpson once remarked of Bruckner) in the way it seems ''to uncover at length a last stratum of calm contemplative thought''. What surprises and delights the listener is the unexpected touch of gentle humour in the closing pages—''Haydnesque'', as Lionel Pike's insert-note justly observes.
Both quartets are read with authority and considerable vitality by the Coull Quartet, who gave the first performances in each case—it's good to have a disc of new music in which the performers have had time to get thoroughly acquainted with the works. Good recordings too—atmospheric but with the quartet image clear and well-staged. One small grumble: the tracking on my disc is different from that indicated in the booklet (six tracks instead of ten), rendering the cueing in Pike's notes redundant. A pity, but I don't want to end on a downbeat. Hyperion deserve the warmest congratulations for having taken to the pulpit on behalf of one of British music's great, and still woefully undervalued, originals.'