Sir John Tavener

Review: Coplas is a short anthem for voices and belongs to a much larger work called 'Last Rites' which is based on the mystical idea of St. John of the Cross. In once sense Coplas is a prolonged decoration of the 'et sepultus est' cadence from the Crucifixus in Bach's Mass in B minor. In another sense I think of it not so much as my music but a way of listening to Bach's music.

Songlist: Coplas

8370b | Songbook & 1 CD $13.95 | SATB

Review: Commissioned by George Watson's College, to mark the Millennium. The work was first performed in December 2000 at St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, as part of the College's Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols, by the choir of George Watson's College.

40309b | Songbook $3.95 | SATB

Review: A Choral Suite in eight movements for SATB (multi divisi). The texts are taken from different sources, including Chuang Tse, an Acoman Indian and a poem written by a young Czech victim of Auschwitz. Scored for 4 Sopranos, 3 Altos, 3 Tenors and 3 Basses (SSSSAAATTTBBB) a cappella.

40305b | Songbook $9.95 | SATB

Review: A collection of Tavener's most popular choral pieces most all of which are a cappella. The text of Annunciation is taken from St Luke's gospel. The words of the Archangel are sung by the main choir, and should build up to a thunderous, awesome theophany. The response of the Mother of God 'How shall this be' comes form a quartet of solo voices set apart, preferably raised in a gallery. This songbook includes program notes from Tavener himself.

Songlist: Annunciation, Come and Do Your Will In Me, Eonia, Funeral Canticle, Hymn to the Mother of God, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, Ikon of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Love Bade Me Welcome, Prayer To The Holy Trinity, Song From Athene

9395b | Songbook $15.95 | SATB Modern Choral Arrangements

Review: Original pieces as well as new arrangements for upper voices of some of the most popular titles from John Tavener's outstandingly varied and extensive list of works for choir. Over the years, we can trace a line from the exquisite simplicity of his setting of Blake's The Lamb to the monumental Veil Of The Temple. The arrangements are all for soprano and alto singers, with a varying number of parts, up to four sopranos and four altos (in Ikon Of Saint Hilda). An Organ or Piano accompaniment part is provided as applicable, with an additional optional Cello solo in Song For Athene.

Songlist: Agnus Dei (Missa Brevis), Awed By The Beauty (The Veil Of The Temple), Ikon Of Saint Hilda, Notre Pere, Song For Athene, The Lamb, The Lord's Prayer (1999), Theotoke

6754b | Songbook $8.95 | SSA

Review: John Tavener first rose to fame in 1969 when his cantata "The Whale" was recorded on the Beatle's Apple record label. Now one of Britain's leading choral composers his works included the poignant "Song For Athene". Here are eight mostly a cappella Christmas songs.

Songlist: O, Do Not Move, A Christmas Round, Ikon Of The Nativity, God Is With Us, Today The Virgin, A Nativity, The Lamb, Apolytikion Of The Incarnation

9115b | Songbook $13.95 | SATB Choral Christmas Arrangements

Review: This is a wonderful work for unaccompanied SATB choir, to be sung with enormous intensity and sonority. First performed in June 1998 by the Chester Cathedral Choir conducted by David Poulter. This is a special item which is made to order. Please e-mail our Mail Order Department for further information.

40310b | Songbook $3.95 | SATB

Review: Composed by John Tavener through commission by the Royal British Legion for the Festival of Remembrance. First performed on the 8th November 2003 at the Albert Hall, London. The piece is written for double choir, one as a central focus and another as a semi-chorus 'Echo-Choir'. The two groups are then unified for the closing Kohima movements. In accordance with the occasion, the music is slow, noble and highly dignified.

40311b | Songbook $3.95 | SATB

Review: Favourite Anthems' for SATB choir presents some of John Tavener's most popular works from his outstandingly varied and extensive catalog of works for choir. Also included are beautiful miniatures and radiant anthems which trace a line over the years from the exquisite simplicity of his setting of William Blake's The Lamb to the monumental Veil of the Temple and beyond.

Songlist: A Christmas Round, A Hymn To The Mother Of God, Advent Antiphon, Agnus Dei, As One Who Has Slept, Exhortation And Kohima, God Is With Us (A Christmas Proclamation), Nunc Dimittis, O That We Were There, Rocking, Song For Athene, The Founder's Prayer, The Lamb, Today The Virgin, What God Is, We Do Not Know

4044b | Songbook $14.95 | SATB

Review: A sacred work for unaccompanied SSATBB choir, using text from The Order for the Burial of Dead Priests, translated from Greek by Isabel Hapgood. Vocal score with piano accompaniment for rehearsal purposes.

2974b | Songbook $3.95 | SSATBB

Review: Hymns Of Paradise, for bass solo, SA chorus and six violins. This work was commissioned by Ross Pople for performance by the London Festival Orchestsra. It was first performed on 27th May 1993 at St Paul's Cathedral.

40317b | Songbook $18.95 | SATB

Review: John Tavener's 1988 work for soprano, countertenor, baritone, bass, SATB chorus, group of tenors and basses and large chamber group. This work, the duration of which is approximately 10 minutes, was commissioned by BBC Television and Radio 3. This is a special item which is made to order.

40312b | Songbook $34.95 | SATB

Review: An attempt to express in music and words the mystery of the Trinity. The text is taken form the ancient Trisagion (sung in Greek). The first section represents God The Father, the second section God The Son, and the third section God The Holy Spirit. For chorus of mixed voices.

40306b | Songbook $3.95 | SATB

Review: It is only through love, that there can be a transcendent unity of all religions, and all manifestations of God. There is the Christic element in Christ's lament over Jerusalem, which is sung by the chorus in the original Greek; then, there is the Judaic element in the Psalm 'By the Waters of Babylon we sat down and wept', sung by the choir and soprano solo; the Islamic dimension is taken from the prologue of Rumi's sublime Masnavi, and this is always sung by the counter-tenor.

12412b | Songbook $19.95 | SATB

Review: John Tavener's 1984 work A Mini Song-Cycle for Gina was written for Gina Cowen, who gave the first performance along with Judith Ginsburg at St John's Church, Ladbroke Grove, London, on April 3, 1986. Text by W.B. Yeats.

Voicing: Soprano

11751b | Songbook $11.95 | Solo

Review: Commissioned by Cathedral Commissions of Wells Cathedral, this setting of the missa brevis was written as a tribute to the Spanish Renaissance composer Victoria, who inspired Tavener throughout his life. The final movement (Agnus Dei ) includes a quotation from Victoria's O Vos Omnes from the Tenebrae Responsories.

40323b | Songbook $9.95 | SATB divisi

Review: John Tavener's Pluies is a work for Solo Mezzo-Soprano, SATB Chorus and String Quartet. The piece was first performed on 31st January 2015 and lasts around 5 minutes. This is the vocal score.

40326b | Songbook $3.95 | SATB

Review: John Tavener's Preces and Responses for Double Choir were commissioned by Cathedral Commissions of Wells Cathedral and were first performed on Sunday 18th May 2014 during New Music Wells 74-14, by Wells Cathedral Choir conducted by Matthew Owens.

Songlist: Preces and Responses

2980b | Songbook $4.95 | SATB

Review: Quoting Tavener: I began to write Svyati in early 1995: while sketching it, I learned that John Williams, father of Jane, my dear friend and publisher, was dying. I could not refrain from dedicating it to Jane and to the memory of her father. The text is in Church Slavonic, and it is used at almost every Russian Orthodox service, perhaps most poignantly after the congregation have kissed the body in an open coffin at an Orthodox funeral. The choir sings as the coffin is closed and borne out of the church, followed by the mourners with lighted candles. The cello represents the priest or icon of Christ, and should play at a distance from the choir, perhaps at the opposite end of the building. As is Greek drama, choir and priest are in dialogue with each other. Since the cello represents the icon of Christ, it must be played without any sentiment of a Western character, but should derive from the chanting of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

40315b | Songbook $7.95 | SATB

Review: John Tavener's The Apocolypse for SATB choir with piano accompaniment. This work was commissioned by the BBC for performance during the 100th season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. It was first performed on August 14, 1994, at the Royal Albert Hall, London, conducted by Richard Hickox, with Thomas Randle (St. John), Patricia Rozario (The Woman), Stephen Richardson (Voice of God), Ruby Philogene (Whore of Babylon), Christopher Robson (Angel), David Nickless (Solo Treble), The New London Children's Choir, the City of London Sinfonia Chorus and the City of London Sinfonia.

40324b | Songbook $32.95 | SATB

Review: For SATB choir and readers.

40313b | Songbook $6.95 | SATB

Review: The World Premiere performance of Sir John Tavener's epic work written for the new Millennium, recorded in St Paul's Cathedral, London, in January 2000. The composer makes full use of the remarkable acoustic of St Paul's, presented here in breathtaking 5.1 Surround Sound.

Songlist: Introduction and Interview with Sir John Tavener, Titles: Fall and Resurrection, Part I; Silence, Darkness; In the Beginning, Before Time, Representation of Chaos, Paradise, The Serpent, Catastrophe: The Implications of the Fall, Adam's Lament, Part II: Prediction, Part III: The Incarnation of the Logos, Cosmic Dance of the Resurrection: All Is Transfigured, The Eye of the Heart: Sir John Tavener talks about his beliefs and music

7543dvd | DVD $24.95 Choral Performance DVDs

Review: The Choir sings Sir John Tavener's hauntingly beautiful unaccompaniedchoral music in a stunning virtual reality restoration of the ancient Hagia Sophia church in Constantinople. Orthodox ikons enrich the visual tapestry, enhancing the full richness of Tavener's mystic inspiration.The power of the performances is overwhelming and the credit goes to James Whitbourn and his vocal ensemble The Choir that he created for the express purpose of television and DVD recordings for Opus Arte. The Choir sing Tavener's music with great understanding and sensitivity to the religious texts. This DVD captures every beauteous moment of Tavener's music with The Choir. Opus Arte, as in all their productions, never leave you second-guessing about the music with their investigative extra features that bring further insight upon the chosen subject.The ikon chooses you which, together with an illustrated booklet containing an in-depth article on the inspirational power of ikons as well as the vocal texts and an introduction by Tavener himself, round off this beautifully presented package.

7541dvd | DVD $29.98 Choral Performance DVDs

Review: Legendary performances on CD for the first time. Described by Gramophone as possessing an "impeccably manicured vocal blend, enchanting the ear from first to last note," The King's Singers maintain the highest caliber of a cappella performance and continue to be one of the most sought-after and critically acclaimed vocal ensembles in the world. Recognition of that fact was underlined by a prestigious Grammy Award in the 2009 ceremony.

Songlist: Si la noche se hace oscura, Prelude, Pastorcico, non te aduermas, dime a do tienes las mientes, pase el agua ma julieta. Danza., Canto, Interlude, Rosa das Rosas. Cantiga de Santa Maria, Maravillosos et Piadosos. Cantiga de Santa Maria, Tres morias m'enamoram, Postlude, Haceme vivir penada, Requiem Aeternam, Kyrie Eleison, Dies Irae, Offertorium, Sanctus, Hosanna, Agnus Dei, Libera me

4218c | 1 CD $15.95 English Choral CDs

Review: If John Tavener's music has always been concerned with eternity, and if it has always confounded those who have horizons no wider than Western traditions of the recent past, it is also true to say that the ways in which he has dealt with the sacred in his work have been characterized by considerable variety, and have never ceased on occasion to surprise. Initially, surprise was caused by his stripping away of the unnecessary, his quest for the musically - and therefore the spiritually - essential. This quest led to a vast outpouring of music, encompassing a great many miniatures and large-scale compositions of the stature of the Vigil Service and Eis Thanaton. 'The power of Tavener at his best is fully unlocked by Polyphony and Stephen Layton, whose sensitivity to the sacred and human in his music communicates in every work on this disc' (Classic FM Magazine).

Songlist: Birthday Sleep, Butterfly Dreams, The Second Coming, Schuon Hymnen, As one who has slept, The Bridal Chamber, Exhortation and Kohima, Shunya

8106c | 1 CD $18.98 English Choral CDs

Review: Despite the mystic beauty of his music, John Tavener's place in Western music is a controversial one. His desire to create musical ikons for a time in which he believes 'man has lost his belief not only in God, but also in himself' is provocative. Yet part of the attraction of his music must surely arise from its symbolic nature, a reflection of his deeply-held Orthodox faith. This collection cvers a wide range of Tavener's celebrated choral output and includes his immediately popular setting of William Blake's The Lamb, and the luminously spiritual, Ikon of Light.

Songlist: A Hymn to the Mother of God, Hymn for the Dormition of the Mother of God, The Lamb, The Tyger, Ikon of Light, Fos I, Doxa, piu intensita, Trisagion, Mystic Prayer To The Holy Spirit, Trisagion, Fos, Today the Virgin, Eonia

7912c | 1 CD $16.98 English Choral CDs