Friday, October 14, 2022

FRIDAY MUSIC: Sir John Tavener, by JD

 Sir John Tavener (1944 - 2013)

Tavener was an English composer of sacred music who came to the attention of the wider public for his 'Song For Athene' which was sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. Before then he had been well known among 'avant garde' musicians. He had come to the attention of the Beatles via Ringo and was signed to Apple Records in 1970.

I have included his biggest selling piece, The Protecting Veil which is 45 minutes long; much needed tranquility in this insane world. It was commissioned by the BBC for the 1989 Proms.





2 comments:

Mark In Mayenne said...

I am one of many who discovered him via thé funeral. He does some rather fine things with the human voice.

Doonhamer said...

Up until The Funeral I mistakenly conflated the two John Taverners.
Both produced beautiful music and am glad that one of them is still active.