Catalogue # CHAN24142

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This two-disc set of choral works by Sir John Tavener forms part\nof the new and ongoing Richard Hickox Legacy series on Chandos,\nleading up to the fifth anniversary of the conductor’s death in\nNovember 2013. Next month (July 2012) we will continue the series\nwith six further re-releases, including a selection of choral works\nby Dyson, Holst, Elgar, Howells, and Vaughan Williams, as well as a\nsix-disc collector’s box set of orchestral works by Frank Bridge.\nAll will be available at mid- or bargain price, on either the\nChandos Classics or Chandos 2-4-1 labels.

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The three works in this Tavener set reflect two major influences\non the composer’s music: the culture of Greece, and the tradition\nof the Greek Orthodox Church. In the words of Tavener himself: ‘In\neverything I do, I aspire to the sacred… music is a form of prayer,\na mystery.’ This manifesto is evident in the choral work We Shall\nSee Him as He Is, which was recorded live at the BBC Proms in the\nRoyal Albert Hall in London. The concert led Gramophone to the\nfollowing conclusion: ‘an extraordinary work in an extraordinarily\ncommitted and spellbinding performance’. The Mumbai-born British\nsoprano Patricia Rozario has made recordings of numerous works by\nTavener, and she was in fact the composer’s own personal choice of\nsoprano for this work, as well as for Eis Thanaton.

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Eis Thanaton (Ode to Death) arose from personal tragedy: it is\ndedicated to the memory of Tavener’s mother who had died in 1985.\nTavener describes the work as ‘an ikon of sorrow’, worked through\nas ‘part of a whole divine plan, not of death as an isolated cruel\nimposition’.

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Tavener describes the orchestral Theophany as ‘an attempt to\nredefine the presence of God in all things as seen from the\nearliest days of creation to the Psalmist’. Mother Thekla, his\nfriend and spiritual advisor, had a guiding hand in the shaping of\nthe work, which was commissioned by the Bournemouth Orchestras to\nmark its centenary celebrations.

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Tavener:

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We Shall See Him As He Is
\nPatricia Rozario (soprano), John Mark Ainsley (tenor) & Andrew\nMurgatroyd (tenor)
\nBBC National Chorus of Wales, Britten Singers, Chester Festival\nChorus & BBC National Orchestra of Wales

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Eis Thanaton (Ode to Death)
\nPatricia Rozario (soprano) & Stephen Richardson (bass)
\nCity of London Sinfonia

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Theophany
\nJeremy Birchall & Margaret Feaviour
\nBournemouth Symphony Orchestra

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