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Tavener, Sir John
Religion
At the debut concert of the London Sinfonietta
in 1968, John Tavener's dramatic cantata The Whale took its
audience by storm and led to Tavener's music being recorded
on The Beatles' Apple label. Since that time Tavener has continued
to show an originality of concept and an intensely personal
idiom making his a voice quite distinct from those of his
contemporaries.
His growing interest in the Russian Orthodox
Church, which he joined in 1977, marked a significant change
in his style of composition. Increasingly, his influences
looked back to ancient Tradition as he worked towards the
creation of an icon in sound. Major works of the 1980s and
early 1990s include the Orthodox Vigil Service and the Akathist
of Thanksgiving, which was given a standing ovation in Westminster
Abbey at its premiere in 1988. The Virgin Classics recording
of The Protecting Veil for solo cello and strings with Steven
Isserlis was awarded a Gramophone Award in 1992. Large-scale
choral and orchestral works include Resurrection and an opera
for the 1992 Aldeburgh Festival, Mary of Egypt which was recorded
by Collins Classics. The enormous popularity of Tavener's
music is reflected by the number of arts festivals which have
featured his music including Perth, Athens, West Cork, Toronto,
St. Nazaire and the BBC's Tavener Festival which celebrated
the composer's 50th birthday. Recent commissions include Svyati
(1995) for Steven Isserlis, the recording of which was nominated
for a Mercury Music Prize in 1997; The Hidden Face (1996)
for the City of London Sinfonia; The Last Discourse (1997)
premiered at St. Paul's Cathedral in March 1998; Eternity's
Sunrise (1997), commissioned by the Academy of Ancient Music
and premiered at the City of London Festival in 1998; and
the epic Fall and Resurrection, premiered at St. Paul's Cathedral
in January 2000; his book "The Music of Silence - A Composer's
Testament" is published by Faber & Faber. In October 2000,
London's South Bank Centre presented "Ikons of Light," a major
three-week festival dedicated to his music.
Combined with his reflective spirit, John
Tavener has an engaging humour which is never far from the
surface. This is captured in both "Glimpses of Paradise" (1992),
a documentary by director Geoffrey Haydon and "The South Bank
Show," broadcast on ITV on Easter Day 1998 and subsequently
released on video.
There are many CD recordings of John Tavener's
music available on record labels including Sony, Virgin Classics,
EMI, BMG, Collins Classics, Hyperion, Linn Records, Nimbus
and Chandos. In April 1999 Harmonia Mundi released "Eternity's
Sunrise," a disc which features five world premiere recordings
of Tavener works performed by the Academy of Ancient Music.
Tavener received a Knighthood in the 2000
New Year's Honours list for "Services to Music."
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