“Jayson Gillham performing Romantic Bach, originals and transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach” the programme intriguingly announced. The recital was part of this year’s Bloomsbury Festival, an annual event showcasing the talents of modern Bloomsbury residents who presumably feel they have something they ought to live up to, the very name of their neighbourhood being synonymous with artistic talent.

In Gillham’s case there can be no question about the quality of his talent, but as the audience assembled I did overhear a question about how the works of Johann Sebastian fitted the “Romantic” title. Gillham began by addressing this issue, describing the emotional  range in these transcriptions of Bach’s works, and made an excellent case for them being appropriately termed “romantic”.  Then he played them, and if you hadn’t entirely understood his verbal argument you certainly understood it now!

The term “romantic” does of course have a number of interpretations, not limited to its current association with romcom. The Oxford Dictionary defines it amongst other things  as “…marked by an emphasis on feeling, individuality and passion” and Gillham’s programme encompassed all of these. From the start of the Toccata in G, BWV916, full of chattering gossip and argument interrupted by...