Widor’s cycle of organ symphonies sits at the heart of his compositional achievement. They are vivid and innovative—none more so than Symphony No. 8 in B major, which takes performer and listener alike to the limits of the genre: its glittering sonorities, lyric intensity and technical power offer a tour-de-force of organ writing. The artfully woven Symphonie romane, the last of the ten, utilises a Gregorian chorale in music of increasing splendour, melancholy and, finally, sublime peace.