OPINION: Is concert title a hilarious bit of satire or just incredibly bad taste?

The facts are much blander than the stories suggest, as they often are. The church planned the concert well before Salisbury became the focus of an international assassin plot. This bit tended to be buried — the headlines and leaders were all about the ‘cheeky churchgoers’ and their Putin jibe.

Russia is a nation with a rich legacy of art and music. The concert draws from this heritage offering composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich.

As the story of the international drama that claimed one life and threatened others continues to unfold we would do well to remind ourselves that beauty knows no national barriers.

Music has long been a bridge for human understanding. Those who do not share a common language or culture can nonetheless find a connection in love of music.

As all forms of artistic expression do, music takes us deeper into a world where we attend to detail and perceive the shape of our longings and desires.

Music can attract attention and influence opinion. It can help in healing, in breaking down barriers and borders, in reconciling, and it can also educate. As a cultural right, music can help to promote and protect other human rights (civil, political, economic or social).

There are many examples of music being used as a tool for social change. It happened in Northern Ireland and South Africa. At a global level the engagement of the antipoverty group One and the human rights organisation Amnesty International have used music to educate, inspire and empower.

I have met some Russian citizens over the last few weeks who are as appalled by the tragic events as locals are.

So – let us in Salisbury send Russia our love. Let us thank the Russian nation for their music. In this we might be reminded that art and music are ways into other ways of living and other ways of expressing our common humanity.

By The Rev Canon Professor James Woodward

Principal of Sarum College