John Tavener

A carol for unaccompanied SATB choir by John Tavener with words by Mother Thelka. This work was first performed in December 1989 at Westminster Abbey London by the Choir of Westminster Abbey conducted by Martin Neary.

Parts for Scatter Roses Over My Tears a meditation on Jalalu-d-din R mi by John Tavener for string quartet.

Prayer of the Heart was inspired by The Chain of Hope. This charitable organisation raises money for the treatment of heart disorders in children including Marfan’s Syndrome of which John Tavener is a sufferer. Thesinger should sit on a low stool bowing towards the heart. This facilitates the soul’s concentration and its unification in ecstasy. The Prayer of the Heart is prayed ceaselessly day and night awake or sleeping becauseit has become at one with the beating of the heart... Silence peace sweetness of union with God... The Prayer is not usually sounded with the voice at all it is silent. Therefore the music must be played and sungintensely quietly with no physical effort. The Byzantine bell and large Tibetan temple bowl may be played by the singer. Prayer of the Heart should be sung in subdued lighting perhaps by candlelight. The recording of theheartbeat should sound very tenderly and quietly throughout.

A work for mixed chorus and string trio (violin viola and cello) to be performed with restraint and majesty. Ikon Of Light was written for the Tallis Scholars. The first performance took place in July 1984 as part of the 1984 Cheltenham International Festival of Music given by the Tallis Scholars and the Leda Trio conducted by Peter Phillips.Instrument Parts.

Commissioned by Emory University Department of Music and Chandler School of Theology through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Quadrangle Fund. Scored for mixed voice choir SATB with Organ accompaniment.

Work for Solo Cello and Orchestral Cello Section. Premiered by Yo Yo Ma.Quoting Tavener: It was while pondering these traditional dicta that I began to write the opening solo melody for the cello. It is in fact a palindromebecause waking and dying are like two sides of a piece of paper. If you wake up spiritually then you will die to all that is not of God. In the middle section which is also a palindrome the orchestral cellos join in theparadoxical meditation providing a platform as it were while the cello line takes on a much more melismatic and decorative character.In fact the whole work is a series of intellectual contradictions realised by thesimplest of musical metaphysics. Dying life life dying waking up in order to die the solo cello always represents the individual mind dying and the individual mind waking up.Then of a sudden just before the end thesolo chant begins again only to be cut off by a distant sentimental memory the memory of 'the blues' reminding us of ordinary human emotion and of our fallen state. The very end suggests a waking up into a kind of peace (notsoul slumber since after death the soul becomes more intensely alive); but we know nothing of that so the music fades beyond our ears.

This work was commissioned by the St. Endellion Festival with financial assistance from South West Arts. The three bass singers consist of a soloist and a duo. The trombones comprise two tenors and two basses. This is aspecial item which is made to order. Please e-mail our Mail Order Department for further information.

Commissioned by the BBC for the series 'Seeing Salvation'. For SATB Choir and Tibetan Temple Bowls.

A Christmas Round was composed for the Feast of St Nektarios of Aegina and text in both English and Greek is included with transliteration. The piece is unsigned for key or time. It has a distinctly Eastern Orthodoxflavour.John Tavener was that rare creature a composer of serious music and serious religious music who has also achieved commercial success. He burst into the popular consciousness with the performance of his Song for Atheneat the funeral of Princess Diana but had been a highly respected and frequently-performed composer since the premiere of his dramatic cantata The Whale in 1968.

If Ye Love Me by John Tavener was commissioned by Manchester International Festival (MIF Creative) with thanks to the support of the MIF Commissioning Circle. In If Ye LoveMe there are subtle echo-effects between three String Quartets which are complimented by an upper Voice choir.

A New Beginning was commissioned by the New Millennium Experience Company and will be performed in the Millennium Dome London in the closing minutes of 1999 to herald the New Millennium.For solo treble children's chorus SATB chorus and small orchestra. Duration c. 7 minutes.

The Akathist in the orthodox church is a hymn of thanksgiving or supplication used on special occasions and has a standard form comprising 13 sections each one made up of a Kontakion and an Ikos. For mixed choir of sopranos altos tenors baritones and basses.Large (A3) score. This is a special item which is made to order. Please e-mail our Mail Order Department for further information.

Set of parts for this string quartet piece.This is a special item which is made to order. Please e-mail our Mail Order Department for further information.

An opera by John Tavener and Gerard McLarnon based on the Dostoyevsky short story. Commissioned by the Bath Festival for the Nash Ensemble and premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath in June 1977.Duration c. 45mins. Large (A3)score.

Written for unaccompanied SATB choir. The composer writes The Open Secret is a hadith or traditional saying of the Prophet Mohammad attributed to Ali Ibn Abi Talib. The profundity of this hadith moved me to makethis setting for SATB choir. The music is intended to be used in a Christian context to promote an understanding of the depth and beauty of Islam.