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Born in London in 1944, he
first came to public attention in 1968 with the premiere of his oratorio
The Whale at the inaugural concert of the London Sinfonietta. The Beatles
subsequently recorded this on their Apple label. Although Taveners
avant-garde style of the Seventies contrasts with the contemplative beauty
of his works for which he is best known, the seeds of the language he
would later adopt were already in evidence. His early compositions,
notably Thrse (1973) commissioned by the Royal Opera House and A
Gentle Spirit (1977) after the short story by Dostoyevsky, showed that
spirituality and mysticism were to be his primary sources of inspiration.
His conversion to the Orthodox Church in 1977 resulted from his growing
conviction that Eastern traditions retained a primordial essence that the
West had lost. Works such as The Lamb (1982), and the large-scale choral
work Resurrection (1989) date from this period. It was in 1989 that
Tavener once again came firmly into the limelight, when the Proms premiere
of The Protecting Veil introduced his music to a new audience. The opera
Mary of Egypt, premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1992. The same year,
a major documentary, Glimpses of Paradise was broadcast on bbc2. His
50th birthday year was marked in 1994 by the bbcs Ikons Festival, as
well as another major Proms commission The Apocalypse. In 1997, the
performance of Song for Athene at the close of Princess Dianas funeral
showed that the profound effect of his music reached far beyond just the
concert-going public. The premiere of A New Beginning played out the final
minutes of 1999 in Londons Millennium Dome; on 4 January 2000, Fall and
Resurrection was premiered at St Pauls Cathedral, broadcast on both
television and radio; he received a Knighthood in the Millennium Honours
List, and later the same year, Londons South Bank Centre presented a
major festival of his music. Overseas commissions increased, notably with
Lamentations and Praises (2000) for the San Francisco-based Chanticleer (whose
recording of the work secured for Tavener the Grammy award for Best
Classical Contemporary Composition in 2003) and Ikon of Eros (2001) for
the Minnesota Orchestra. Tavener was then led to look for inspiration from
alternative sources by his interest in the universalist philosophy of the
late Swiss metaphysician Fritjhof Schuon, which embraces all great
religious traditions. This change in direction is manifest in works
written since 2001 notably The Veil of the Temple, Lament for
Jerusalem (which uses both Christian and Islamic texts), and Hymn of Dawn,
based on Hindu, Sufi, Christian and Jewish texts, as well as the music of
the American Indians. Other works include the song-cycle Schuon Lieder;
Pratrirupa for piano and strings; and numerous choral works including
Elizabeth Full of Grace, a commission from hrh the Prince of Wales. Sir
John is forming an important collaboration with choreographer Wayne
McGregor for his company Random Dance, and working on a large-scale choral
work The Beautiful Names, celebrating the ninety-nine names for God
according to Islamic tradition.
David McCleery
Selected works (since 1984): Ikon of Light for mixed choir and strings
(1984), Eis Thanaton for soprano, bass and orchestra (1986), Akathist of
Thanksgiving for two altos, two countertenors, tenor, baritone, two basses,
mixed choir, timpani, tubular bells (organ) and strings (1987), Prayer
(for Szymanowski) for bass and piano (1987), Song for Ileana for solo
flute (1988), The Protecting Veil for cello and strings (1988), Ikon of St
Seraphim for two violins, countertenor, four basses, mixed choir and
orchestra (1988), Ikon of the Crucifixion for soprano, countertenor,
baritone, bass, mixed choir and orchestra (1988), Let Not the Prince Be
Silent for two antiphonal choirs (1988), Resurrection for soprano,
countertenor, bass, actors, mixed choir, male choir and orchestra (1989),
The Repentant Thief for clarinet and orchestra (1990), Eternal Memory for
cello and strings (1991), Mary of Egypt for soprano, alto, bass, children
choirs, mixed choir and orchestra (1991), Apocalypse for treble, soprano,
contralto, seven countertenors, tenor, bass, boys and male voi-ces and
orchestra in three spatial groups (1993), Theophany for orchestra (1993),
The World is Burning for mixed choir and tam-tam (1993), The Myrrh-Bearer
for viola, choir and percussion (1993), Akhmatova Songs for soprano and
cello (1993), Agraphon for soprano and orchestra (1994), Lets Begin
Again for mixed choir and orchestra (1995), Svyati for cello and mixed
choir (1995), Petra for singing string ensemble (1996), Vlepondas for
cello, soprano and baritone (1996), Fall and Resurrection for soprano,
countertenor, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra (1997), The Last
Discourse for amplified double bass, soprano, bass and mixed choir (1997),
My Gaze Is Ever upon You for violin and tape (1997), Lament for
Constantinople for baritone and alto flute (1997), Mystagogia for
orchestra (1998), Iero Oniro (A Sacred Dream) for soprano, instrumental
ensemble and tape (1999), Total Eclipse for saxophone, treble, tenor,
countertenor, mixed choir and orchestra (1999), The Bridegroom for four
female voices and string quartet (1999), Prayer of the Heart for voice,
Tibetan bowls, monastery bell and string quartet (1999), Ikon of Eros for
violin, soprano, mixed choir and orchestra (2000), Mahamatar for low
female voice, boys choir, tubular bells and strings (2000), Song of the
Cosmos for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra (2000), The Fool
for unaccompanied mixed choir (2000), Lamentations and Praises for male
choir and orchestra (2000), Lament for Jerusalem for soprano, countertenor,
mixed choir and orchestra (2002), The Veil of the Temple for soprano,
mixed choir, boys choir and orchestra (2002), Butterfly Dreams for
unaccompanied mixed choir (2002), Maya Atma for violin, soprano and
percussion (2002), Supernatu-ral Songs for countertenor or mezzo-soprano
and orchestra (2003), Pratirpa for piano and strings (2003), Mahashakti
for violin and string orchestra (2003), Shuon Lider for piano, soprano,
string quartet and Tibetan temple bowl (2003), Atma Mass for mixed choir
and organ (2003), Cantus Mysticus for clarinet, soprano and strings
(2004), Laila (Amu) for soprano, tenor, bass choir and orchestra (2004),
Marienhymne for mixed choir and a cappella female choir (2005), Missa
brevis for solo organ and soprano choir (2005).
Fall and Resurrection (a vision) tries to encompass, in brief glimpses,
the events which have taken place since the beginning of time, and before
time. The work begins in total silence, in the Paradise of God. After the
silence of the beginning, a series of very hushed, deep notes spirals into
a quiet but very complex uncreated chaos, in which all the potentials of
good and evil are heard, and over a period of about five minutes the music
travels ferociously, dissonantly and ever more loudly into a colossal
storm. As I said, all the possibilities of good and evil are present in
this uncreated chaos, therefore every single note carries with it a
metaphysical significance although, because of the huge proliferation of
the notes, this cannot be heard by the human ear. In fact, all the
material of the piece (which is based on the Byzantine chant Ton Stauron
sou Thy Cross we adore) is contained in this unrelenting sound.
Out of this chaos, God loved the world into being; a paradise, a monody,
without confusion. Adam and Eve sing openly, primordially, to God and to
each other. Then comes the cosmic catastrophe, as the rams-horn sounds
from on high. After this, fear, shame, sorrow and death enter as the first
section closes Paradise lost. Patristic theology tells us of the
Divine original state, representing a series of divine theophanies; and
even in the fallen state, it is seen to present forms whose contemplation
may lead the mind back to an awareness of divine beauty. The link is the
Prophets, because they saw in the darkness. In the second section of the
work, verses or hints from the prophets and the Psalmist (the Divine
David) are sung by a countertenor, interspersed with dance-like music for
the kaval, which is a form of the nay flute. The Fall was once and for all,
but we have the choice of life or death through the Incarnation of the
Logos and the Resurrection. The doctrine of the God-man refers also and
equally to the theandric union between God and the whole created world,
through man and in man. Hence, in the third and final section, the
introduction of the Grand Organ in all its magnificence, at the
Incarnation/Creation, represents an eternal act, which from the side of
God is above time altogether, since it pertains to the eternal act of the
generation of the Logos. At the moment of the Crucifixion, an apparent
return to the thunderous cacophony of the uncreated Chaos occurs. Indeed,
the Crucifixion is an unwitting effort by humanity to destroy the Divine
order, but this anti-God effort fails, because it is impossible to destroy
the Divine. Everybody and every created thing possesses the capacity to
move from an imperfect harmony with God to the perfect harmony achieved
when the personal logos and sophia of each created being is the effective
and determinative subject of that being. The prototype is Mary Magdalene,
when she prostrates herself before Christ. Ravoni she sings, with gentle
ecstasy, as Eve is redeemed. This rare and simple recognition of Christ,
on one level, without esotericism, just pure loving, shows that all of us
may join in the Cosmic Dance of the Resurrection. This cosmic Dance is the
affirmation of all creation, and the promise of fulfilment which we cannot
see.
So, in one sense, Fall and Resurrection is a kind of musical metaphysics,
but it came to me as a vision. In either case, I hope that it contains a
message of hope for the next millennium. The beauty and love with which
the Holy Spirit quickens the celestial image-archetypes are identical to
the beauty and love with which He quickens their created counterparts. And
just as it is Divine beauty that sets in motion the movement whereby God
reveals His potentiality in manifest forms, so it is the same beauty which
rouses in created beings the aspiration for higher existence that is
latent in all of us.
This work should ideally be performed in a building with a large acoustic.
The resonance of beautiful ancient instruments the kaval, the
rams-horn trumpet and the Tibetan temple bowls brings to mind and soul
something primordial, something lost, something innocent, something wild
and untamed. Fall and Resurrection is dedicated to hrh The Prince of Wales,
and it is written in loving memory of my Father.
John Tavener
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