Customer Reviews

Ikons: Choral Music of John Tavener

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John Tavener is a rare creature - he is a composer known and admired by Western audiences who has as a primary focus and influence his Eastern Orthodox tradition and liturgy. The very title of this CD, Ikons, gives one the sense that these are pictures or images in sound. Icons are objects that help direct worship and veneration, and that is certainly true of these compositions as well.

The first piece, 'Thunder Entered Her', derives from a hymn by St. Ephraim, one of the few hymn writers whose hymns have been found in virtually every Christian tradition - he lived at the crossroads of Empire and Eastern world at a critical juncture in Christian history, and his work continues its influence, as felt her in Tavener. This is a Nativity hymn, in praise of God and appreciation of Mary.

'The Lamb' and 'The Tiger', written separately, are both inspired by William Blake's texts. Both, according to Tavener, were written in honour of people, the former for his three-year-old nephew, and the later for Philip Shepherd on his sixty-fifth birthday. The piece 'God is with us' is the opening of the Orthodox Christmas Eve compline service. The remaining pieces, full of passion, were all written in honour of people who died sudden deaths, including Tavener's mother - Tavener said, 'The music on every occasion was written very quickly, as if they were parting gifts from those who had died.'

Perhaps Tavener's best-known (or at least most widely heard) piece was the 'Alleluia' sung at the close of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. This disc gives a much fuller account of Tavener's power as a composer.

There is something of variability in the performances here. In general they are very good, but there are occasional instances where either the performance or the recording might have been better. The BBC Singers are a very good group, directed here by Simon Joly, with accompaniment by Christopher Bowers-Broadbent on the organ. The BBC Singers advertise themselves as 'the only full-time prfoessional chamber choir in Britain,' and have 24 members who regularly perform for radio and television, as well as live performances.

This is a lovely disc, a good collection of great compositions.

This isn't awful, but not very good.