In the history of aesthetics, the idea of “the sublime” has a long pedigree, and its meaning has been debated throughout the centuries by generations of artists, writers, poets and musicians seeking to evoke the term. It has many shades of meaning but has historically referred to things that are exalted as something beyond normal human experience and reaching deeply into the human emotional make-up, whether that something be architecture, ideas, language, style, art or nature.

These days, though, the word sublime is applied in everyday language to almost anything that can be refined to the highest point, such as a perfectly executed goal in football, or an exquisitely cooked meal. In this blog, I will be taking this modern sense of “high excellence” as applied to the varied worlds of art, music, film, television, theatre, opera, and literature. I will share with you examples from these worlds – those “occasional glimpses of the sublime” – that will hopefully move, thrill, amaze, amuse, or at least interest you by virtue of their excellence or cultural significance. Join me on what I hope will be an edifying and rewarding journey…