[...] The Truest End was very much moulded by the structure of the text - its three main sections corresponding to the three stanzas. The slow, syllabic introduction conjures a funereal atmosphere, with the choir singing sotto voce and senza vibrato as if not yet able to muster an emotion. But after coming to rest on 'die' (punctuated by a Mahlerian fate motif), the music seems to enter a new world. Ushered in by soaring solo alto, the second section is bathed in opulent, impressionistic harmonies and filled with the expressive outpourings that were previously in such short supply [...]