Search - Tavener :: Byzantia: Music of John Tavener

John Tavener gained large-scale renown when The Protecting Veil for cello and orchestra was featured at the 1989 BBC Proms; his music (if not his name) was heard by millions in 1997 when Song for Athene was sung at Princess Diana's funeral. This compilation from Virgin Classics makes an excellent introduction to the composer's work. Tavener is often lumped together with Arvo Pärt as "Holy Minimalists," but they're quite different: while Pärt's music is usually reflective and austere, Tavener's is often cheerful and joyous--occasionally almost giddy (as in the "Christmas Proclamation" God Is with Us). He often borrows features of Eastern Orthodox liturgical music, such as the ison (low drone), quarter-tone intervals and ornaments of Greek chant or the tightly wound dissonance of early Russian polyphony. (The thrilling Angels for chorus and organ has all of these.) Examples of Tavener's instrumental music include the rhapsodic first movement of The Protecting Veil and excerpts from the radiantly still string quartets The Hidden Treasure (which does sound a lot like Pärt's Fratres) and The Last Sleep of the Virgin (which uses handbells to mesmerizing effect); the most memorable pieces, though, are the wondrously simple The Lamb and Funeral Ikos for unaccompanied choir. --Matthew Westphal