IDAGIO | Tavener: We shall see him as he is - Eis Thanaton

Featuring

Richard Hickox
Patricia Rozario
John Mark Ainsley
Andrew Murgatroyd
John Senter
Stephen Richardson

Jeremy Birchall
Margaret Feaviour
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra
BBC Welsh Chorus
Britten Singers
Chester Festival Chorus
City of London Sinfonia
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
John Tavener

Did you know?

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Composer Biography

Mother Thekla, Abbess of the Orthodox Monastery in Normanby, North Yorkshire, was Sir John Tavener's friend and spiritual adviser, compiling texts and guiding his work.

Performer Biography

Richard Hickox CBE, one of the most gifted British conductors of his generation, was Music Director of Opera Australia and founded the City of London Sinfonia in 1971.

Composition History

"Eis Thanaton" (Ode to Death) arose from the personal tragedy of Tavener's beloved mother's death in 1985, inspiring him to return to creativity after a period of silence.

Recording & Production

The "unearthly sounds of God" in Tavener's "Theophany" were created by multi-tracking a bass voice, with some notes recorded at double speed and played back at normal speed to achieve an octave lower.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Sir John Tavener, the composer, succinctly expressed his artistic creed as aspiring to the sacred, viewing music as a form of prayer and a mystery.

Compositional Technique

Tavener's work "We Shall See Him as He Is" uses idiosyncratic timbres for each principal idea, a process likened to the different mosaics or paints that make up the colors of an ikon.

Performer Biography

Soprano Patricia Rozario, who studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, has inspired several leading composers, including Sir John Tavener, to write over thirty works for her.