The air was alive with anticipation as Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tyshawn Sorey brought his majestic masterpiece Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) to London's storied St Giles' Cripplegate for its European premiere. This 80-minute odyssey, a meditation on Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel, was an audacious challenge to the senses – a sonic journey that slowly unfurled its intricate layers and profound influences like a blooming flower.
Sorey's composition draws parallels with Feldman's seminal work, employing a similar instrumental lineup, but where Feldman's meditative soundscape typically lasts just half an hour, Sorey stretches his work to the limit, building towards a breathtaking crescendo that finally reveals its deep roots in the African American spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" like a hidden treasure.
The performance was nothing short of electrifying, with Sorey conducting the BBC Singers like a master tactician, coaxing pure, almost unearthly wordless notes from their voices that shimmered and shone like a celestial backdrop. Meanwhile, bass-baritone Davóne Tines delivered a virtuosic performance, his acrobatic melismas soaring across his vocal range with ease, while viola prodigy Ruth Gibson conjured ethereal harmonics that transported the audience to another realm.
The GBSR Duo, comprising George Barton on percussion and Siwan Rhys on piano and celesta, were positioned like sentinels on opposite sides of the performance space, engaged in a delicate dialogue that danced across the work's complex musical landscape with mesmerising precision. Even on a sweltering evening when the church seemed to vibrate with heat, their performance was nothing short of phenomenal – from the elemental rumblings on bass drum to the glistening bowed marimba, they delivered moments of striking beauty that lingered long after the final notes had faded.
With Monochromatic Light (Afterlife), Sorey has given the UK's thriving contemporary classical music scene a work to be reckoned with – an ambitious composition that defies genre boundaries and rewards perseverance with moments of profound beauty. This is music that invites reflection, challenging the listener to consider the interplay of sound, spirituality, and art in all its complexities.