 Vaughan Williams also insisted on a balance between words and music in A Sea Symphony , writing in his program note for the work , " It is also noticeable that the orchestra has an equal share with the chorus and soloists in carrying out the musical ideas " . Music critic Samuel Langford , writing about the premiere of the work for The Manchester Guardian , concurred with the composer , writing , " It is the nearest approach we have to a real choral symphony , one in which the voices are used throughout just as freely as the orchestra . " 
