Tyshawn Sorey at St Giles’ Cripplegate

“Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)” is a composition commissioned from Tyshawn Sorey to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, where 14 of Mark Rothko’s canvases, in varying shades of black, are housed in a non-denominational modernist building. Having worked with the various architects on the design of the octagonal building, Rothko died in 1970, the year before before it was completed, so he was able neither to see the finished chapel nor to hear the 25-minute piece for chorus, viola and percussion composed by the master minimalist Morton Feldman to celebrate its opening. Sorey’s piece is a homage to his predecessor, employing the same resources but three times longer, with the addition of a solo singer — the bass-baritone Davóne Tines — and a pianist doubling on celesta. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2023, which he won a year later for his “Adagio (for Wadada Leo Smith)”, and a few months after the Houston première it…