Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s take on the Koranic angel Israfel, "whose heart-strings are a lute, and who has the sweetest voice of all God’s creatures", Mark Simpson was motivated to write a piece that sang, floated, morphed, moved, moved us, lifted us, had power, had fragility, had hope, uncertainty, beauty – something otherworldly, something transcendental – something to shake us. Poe's poem perfectly conjures up the myriad emotions Simpson wanted to take the listener through. In terms of str...