I am happy living simply
End of the Ending
“Who could wish for a better first track than Emily Hall’s I am happy living simply? One minute and 44 seconds of delight, this little song, never as simple or happy as it seems, immediately shows off the ensemble’s frontline asset: the vivacious soprano voice of Héloïse Werner, who pounces on individual notes and words with a tiger’s tenacity and a kitten’s glee.” The Times, Geoff Brown
Folie à Deux
"Emily Hall's restless modernity mixes classical precision with an ear for folk and electronics. Folie à Deux is another of her ultra-melodic hybrids"
MOJO
"...the recording, concisely presented in a thirty-nine-minute form, provides no small number of listening pleasures."
Textura
"it is intriguing and beautiful. It is full of delicately entwined vocals which intersect across each other and includes the harmonious partnership of classical music and minimalistic electronics – something that, to my mind, is rarely attempted to the same degree."
Drowned in Sound
Sante
"a dynamic new opera worth everyone's time and hopes”
The Times
Nightingale and the Rose
"A glorious avant-garde show that was as musically interesting as it was spiritually stirring"
"The highlight was Emily Hall's Nightingale and the Rose, a folk-pop-infused meditation on Wilde's fairy tale.[...]Wow."
Evening Standard **** Kieron Quirke
"A joyful event, culminating in a thrilling rendition of a sea shanty by all four casts, lifting the church roof with exhilerating glee"
"Most sophisticated [...] lyrical, folk-inspired score by Emily Hall"
The Daily Telegraph **** Rupert Christiansen
"The strongest fable, however, focuses on a broken heart and a simple folk song. Company members Victor Sande, David Sanchez-Remade and Kevin Woodward, with Revivalist drones and descants for violin and cello, led Emily Hall's adaptation of The Nightingale and the Rose, a wistful story of unrequited love, sensitively filmed by Gaelle Denis"
Independent on Sunday **** Anna Picard
"Immediately appealing is The Nightingale and the Rose, Emily Hall's delicate interpretation of Oscar Wilde's short story. Cast members fill the church with whistled birdsong before launching a heartfelt refrain that repeats throughout the score and Gaelle Denis's ravishing film."
Financial Times *** Laura Battle
Higher Ground
"The two standout pieces inhabited opposite ends of the stylistic spectrum. Anchored in the British song tradition, Emily Hall’s Higher Ground, for treble (Duncan Tarboton) and strings, evokes the legendary sunken town of Aberdovey as a metaphor for the engulfing consequences of climate change."
Guardian, Tim Ashley
Lost and Found
“...a composer steeped in song, her music immediately appealing. ”
Guardian, Fiona Maddocks
“it’s surely rather brilliant.”
Whats on Stage
“Emily Hall [...] artfully mixes lyrical indie-ish songs with sinister instrumental effects"
"a bold project"
The Times, Richard Morrison, ****
“startling and often beautiful music", “Ingenious"
Guardian, Fiona Maddocks
“I loved Emily Hall’s ravishingly textured and expansively lyrical Potential Space” Richard Morrison, The Times, Richard Morrison
Potential Space
Q magazine: Paul Stokes: The new wave of Neu Classical (March 2019)