Colour and Light JS Bach, Sibelius, Suk, Respighi

Chichester Cathedral, Chichester

Elgar’s magnificent orchestral showpiece is more than just a mere transcription of Bach’s mournful organ Fantasia. It slowly swells as more and more layers of orchestral colour are built up until the full-throttle climax. In his Violin Concerto, Sibelius opposes rather than meshes solo and orchestra in a succession of wonderful melodies until reaching a giddying climax of syncopated brilliance. At times dreamy and reflective and at others turbulent and darkly passionate, it is full of technical prowess – a deep and gritty orchestral exploration from darkness into light. The origins of the Bohemian hymn on which Suk based his Meditation can be traced back a thousand years. A work that pays homage to one of the most revered saints in Czech history, it is both heartfelt and nostalgic, interweaving Suk’s personal sense of patriotism with a deep spirituality. Using fragments of ancient Gregorian chant, Respighi’s symphonic suite Church Windows depicts four imagined religious scenes forever captured in stained-glass windows. His supreme orchestral mastery is on full show, shimmering with refracted, kaleidoscopic colour as light floods through.