A common criticism of the composer John Tavener was that his work was “easy listening”, prime fodder for Classic FM and schmaltzy adverts. There can be no doubt that he had popular appeal – in 1992, his cello sonata The Protecting Veil topped the classical charts for months, and millions wept as his choral work Song for Athene was sung as Princess Diana’s coffin was borne out of Westminster Abbey in 1997. His became the sound of a time: his setting of the William Blake poem “The Lamb” was sung at the Millennium Dome in the final moments of 1999. The diverse sources of the tributes paid to him since his death demonstrate this – as well as fellow composers and musicians, the Prince of Wales has let it be known that he is “saddened” by his death. Tavener was famous in a way more usually associated with a pop star – he was even signed to The Beatles’ Apple label early on in his career, and was nominated twice for the Mercury Prize.
Tavener, who has died at the age of 69 after struggling with ill health for much of his life, had another side to his work, though, that more rarely made it beyond the awareness of those who make, read, and write about classical music. His conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1977 had a profound impact on his composing, as he moved away from the modernism of The Whale and Celtic Requiem and began importing ideas from Gregorian chant, Orthodox liturgical traditions and eastern harmonies. Always, he told the BBC in 2003, he was trying to find “a music that already exists in the cosmos” or “the uncreated music of God”.
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