"There is wonderful variety within this programme, from the glittery Glisk by Aileen Sweeney to

Anna Appleby’s song without words Sonnet 43, all beautifully realised by the CBSO."

★★★★ - Claire Jackson, BBC Music Magazine

Anna Appleby’s Sonnet 43 was a passionate song without words, inspired by the irrationality and terror of grief as expressed in one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems.  The piano had a concertante role, occasionally combative and at different times forming an uneasy union with the other instruments.  The instrumentation was invariably inventive, with a striking interpolation, near the end, of brightly coloured whirly tubes.  Alternately barbed and shadowy, Anna Appleby’s bold, far-reaching score embraced the wild and shocking qualities of mourning, as well as conveying the depth of pain of a lament.

CBSO Sounds New - Paul Conway, Musical Opinion (April 2023)

Ghost - premiered at Tête à Tête opera festival in London, September 2024

"...Bridges was so much more than a commission. It was ten months of dynamic, collaborative music making. Anna transformed how Young Sinfonia saw composing and creating a new piece, resulting in an epically committed and exciting performance"

Pay the Piper - Winner of 'Best Opera' at the International YAM Awards, 2022

Composed by Anna Appleby, Ailie Robertson, Cecilia Livingston and Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade with libretto by Hazel Gould

...the score flows seamlessly while allowing the musical personalities to shine. ★★★★

The Piper’s story, together with the framing passages, the interludes and the opening and closing music, was composed by Anna Appleby.  Bold yet hintingly plaintive motifs introduce The Piper...

Pay the Piper with Glyndebourne Youth Opera - Mark Aspen (Feb 2022) 

"fresh and gripping writing"

"The interplay between dancers, singers and instrumental musicians on stage was compelling and unusual, as all three groups were given an equal voice"

"A new piece of art which emulates and empathises with current social and political worries"

"Tom Service presents the world premiere performance of Drought, an opera by Anna Appleby with libretto by poet Niall Campbell. This metaphysical tale of retribution and remorse revolves around two characters on a drought-stricken farm, and the rising tensions between them. The soloists are Lila Chrisp and Sally Pitts, with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Jack Sheen"

- BBC Radio 3, August 2023

"an excellent addition to the repertoire of adventurous saxophonists"

Anna Appleby‘s 5-minute solo saxophone piece 13.8 Billion Years began as a soaring melody, before exploding into florid life peppered with key-clicks (which, for once, didn’t seem like an overused effect) and sharp multiphonic colourations. Amy Green’s performance of the piece was fantastic: beautifully controlled through the opening, and genuinely mesmerising as the work developed, coming across like a snake charmer. Though both the title and the premise of the piece were (deliberately?) preposterous, it didn’t matter; I interpreted it that the previous 13.8 billion years had all been leading up to this particular moment – a wait that felt totally worth it.

HCMF Shorts - 5 against 4 (Nov 2021)