On Beholding a Rainbow is a piece of great lyrical beauty and one of the great violin concertos of the late 20th century. It also illustrates the point that for all its technical complexity, Gilbert's music is first and foremost of great expressive strength. Indeed, when listening to a piece of his, one always forgets all the workings behind the music and one begins to 'appreciate the energy, the poetry, the intelligence, integrity and originality' of it. These words from Douglas Jarman's article Notes on the Music of Anthony Gilbert aptly put his music into perspective.

Hubert Culot, MusicWeb-International