sign in sign up
<<
Home , In Alium (Tavener), John Tavener, Julietta, The Veil of the Temple, The Whale (Tavener)

SRCD.311 STEREO ADD (b.1944) JOHN Canciones españolas (1972)* (16’23”) 10 IX Tres morias m’enamoram. 1 I Si la noche se hace oscura (1’00”) (Anónimo) (0’48”) 2 II Prelude (1’35”) 11 X Postlude (1’27”) 3 III Pastorcico, non te aduermas. TAVENER 12 XI Háceme vivir penada (1’24”) (Anónimo) (1’05”) 4 IV Dime a do tienes las mientes. Requiem for Father Canciones (Alonso de Mudarra) (1’58”) Malachy (1973)** (35’27”) 5 V Pase el agua ma Julietta. Danza. 13 Requiem aeternam (4’50”) españolas (Anónimo) (0’53”) 14 Kyrie eleison (3’37”) 6 Kevin Smith Canto (0’26”) 15 Dies Irae (9’41”) 7 VI Interlude (1’15”) 16 Offertorium (3’33”) James Bowman 8 VII Rosa das Rosas. Cantiga de Santa 17 Sanctus (1’27”) Maria. (Alfonso X el Sabio) (3’11”) 18 Hosanna (2’29”) 9 VIII Maravillosos et Piadosos. 19 Agnus Dei (2’58”) Requiem for Cantiga de Santa Maria. 20 Libera me (6’52”) (Alfonso X el Sabio) (1’21”) (52’00”) Father Malachy * James Bowman & Kevin Smith ** The King’s Singers The King’s Singers Nigel Perrin countertenor, Alastair Hume countertenor, Alastair Thompson , Tony Holt , Simon Carrington baritone, Brian Kay The Nash Ensemble The Nash Ensemble conducted by John Tavener

The above individual timings will normally each include two pauses. One before the beginning of each movement or work, and one after the end Conducted by John Tavener P 1976 The copyright in these sound recordings is owned by Lyrita Recorded Edition, England This compilation and digital remastering P 2009 Lyrita Recorded Edition, England C 2009 Lyrita Recorded Edition, England. Made in the UK LYRITA RECORDED EDITION. Produced under an exclusive license from Lyrita by Wyastone Estate Ltd, PO Box 87, Monmouth, NP25 3WX, UK JOHN TAVENER is one of the most original, intensely personal voices in contemporary IX music, celebrated for the unparalleled range of his sacred music. Born on 28 January Tres moricas m’enamoran en Jaén Three Moorish girls fell in love with me in Jaen, 1944 into a Presbyterian family in Wembley Park, North London, he was educated at Axa, Fatima y Marién, Axa, Fatima and Marien, Highgate School, where he composed for the school orchestra. Some of his earliest Dixe les: ¿Quién soie Señoras, I said to them: ‘Who are you, ladies, acknowledged compositions date from this period, including a Credo (1961) and the de mi vida robadoras? robbers of my life?’ short oratorio Genesis (1962), both written for a local church where his father was Cristianas, qu’éramos moras de Jaén. ‘Christians, Sir, we were Moon of Jaen, organist. He won a scholarship to the in 1962, studying Axa, Fatima y Marién. Axa, Fatima and Marien’. composition with and, later, David Lumsdaine, who introduced him Yo vos juro all Alcorán ‘I swear to you on the Koran, to the music of Boulez, Ligeti, Stockhausen and Messiaen. en quien, Señoras, creeis, in which you ladies believe, que la una y todas tres that all three of you have greatly disturbed me On 24 January 1968, the first performance of his dramatic cantata (a m’aveis puesto en grande afán, so that, whenever I think of you, ‘fantasy’ on the Old Testament story of Jonah and the whale) at the inaugural concert do mis ojos pensaran rues tal verén. Axa, Fatima and Marien, of the in the Queen Elizabeth Hall brought Tavener’s name to Axa, Fatima y Marién. I cannot help but see you.’ public attention; The Whale, which features collage, pre-recorded tape, amplified Anonymous percussion, Hammond organ and a chorus using loudhailers, was later recorded on ’ Apple label. Other notable commissions quickly followed the QEH première, XI including , requested by Sir William Glock for the 1968 Proms season, and Háceme vivir penada He makes me live in pain Celtic Requiem (1969), another London Sinfonietta commission, which incorporates y muestráse me enemigo. and has become my enemy, the rituals of a mass for the dead with children’s playground games. Ultimos ritos ¿Cómo no venis, cómo no venis, amigo ? O, my beloved, why do you not come? (1972), a large-scale choral piece setting quotations from the ‘Crucifixus’ from Bach’s Mass in B Minor against the poetry of St. John of the Cross was a summation of his Translations by Rosemary Moss creative output thus far and won the prize for religious composition in the international contest of the Italian Society for Contemporary Music at Perugia. www.lyrita.co.uk

Acting upon his growing belief that Eastern traditions retained a primordial essence Notes © 2009 Lyrita Recorded Edition, England Recording location and date: that the West had forgotten, John Tavener was received into Greek Orthodox worship Church of St. John the Evangelist, Islington, London. 16/17 September 1975 in 1976. His music went through a transitional period in the early 1980s from his early Originally released in 1976 on LP RCA LRL1 5104 modernist approach to a more meditative style. Significant works in the composer’s Digital Remastering Engineer: Simon Gibson progress towards greater simplicity include , a setting of ’s poem (1982); To a Child Dancing in the Wind, a continuous setting of nine poems by WARNING Copyright subsists in all Lyrita Recordings. Any unauthorised broadcasting. public performance, W. B. Yeats (1983); , another choral setting of Blake’s poetry (1987) and The copying, rental or re-recording thereof in any manner whatsoever will constitute an infringement of such copyright. In the United Kingdom licences for the use of recordings for public performance may be Protecting Veil, for cello solo and string orchestra (1987), written for : the obtained from Phonographic Performance Ltd., 1 Upper James Street, London, W1F 9DE Proms première of the latter work on 4 September 1989 once again caught the public 2 11 imagination, quickly generating a cult following similar to that created by The Whale VIII Cantiga de Santa Maria 20 years earlier. Maravillosos et piadosos et mui Marvellous, holy and very beautiful are the fremosos miragres faz, miracles of faith, Mary of Egypt, a large-scale scored for , bass and alto soloists, chorus, Santa Maria a que nos guía ben Holy Mary, who guides us, comes children’s chorus, orchestra and tape loop, premièred at the Aldeburgh Festival in noi’ te día et nos da paz. night and day and gives us peace. 1992, beginning a close and lasting creative collaboration with the soprano Patricia E d’est un miragre vos cantar quero And of a certain miracle I want to sing to you Rozario. Two years later, his 50th birthday year was marked by a major Proms que en Frandes aquesta Virgen fez that in Flanders the Virgin brought about, commission, a three-hour oratorio The Apocalypse. The short choral piece Song for Madre de Deus, maravillos’ e fero Mother of God, O! marvellous, Athene (1993) is an elegiac tribute to a young family friend tragically killed in a road per hua dona que foi hua vez. and it happened to a woman who once lived. accident; when it was performed at the close of Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997, it E sa egreia d’est que seia And her happiness at this which was to come had a tremendous impact, raising Tavener’s public profile once again and resulting per nos et veia mola sa faz shows us her true faith: in further commissions, including a major documentary on the composer for ITV’s no paray sou Deus dar quiso she never ceased praising God, South Bank Show. goyo et riso a quen llé praz. with joy and laughter she gave him praise. Aquesta dona leou un menynno This woman gave birth to a child, Tavener received a knighthood in 2000. At the start of the new millennium, he began seu filli, sigo, que en offreçón her son, that is, who in offering to seek inspiration from a variety of different sources, led by an interest in the Swiss deu a Virgen, mui pequeynno she gave to the Virgin while still an infant metaphysician Fritjhof Schuon’s universalist philosophy, which embraces all great que de mal ll’o guardasse d’o that he should be kept from harm wherever religious traditions. This change in direction resulted in an increasing richness and quei son. he went. diversity in his music, exemplified by three recent large-scale pieces: the epic, seven- Et ella fezese per que dissesse And she, as she had been asked, hour all-night vigil (2002), characterised by the composer as ‘an sempr’e soubesse de ben assaz. showered him with kisses and affection, attempt to restore the scared imagination’, includes Sufi poetry as well as Christian, Que, com’a prendo sue pan comendo that, as he learnt to eat his bread Islamic and Hindu texts; Hymn of Dawn (2002) uses Hindu, American Indian, Sufi, seu pan comendo paro’ss’ enaz. the bread he ate kept him from harm. Christian, Jewish and Taoist texts, and Requiem (2007) sets words from the Qu’ran Alfonso X el Sabio and the Upanishads alongside those of the Roman Catholic requiem mass. Other recent works of note include the choral Schuon Hymen (2003) and Schuon Lieder, for soprano, string quartet and four Tibetan temple bowls (2003), and a series of concertante pieces: Kaleidoscopes (A tribute to Mozart), for oboe and orchestra (2005), Pratrirùpa, for piano and strings (2005) and Lalishri, for violin and strings (2006).

A contemplation of death and mortality is an obsessive theme running throughout his oeuvre from its earliest expression in the Three Holy Sonnets of John Donne, for baritone solo, brass, percussion and strings (1962), which includes a setting of ‘Death Be Not Proud’, through such pieces as the Arvo Pärt-like Akhmatova: Requiem, for 10 3 soprano, baritone and orchestra (1980), Funeral Ikos, for unaccompanied chorus (1981), Eis Thanaton (’Ode to Death’) (1985), Svyati (1995), inspired by the death VII Cantiga de Santa Maria of the father of a friend, to its most transcendental manifestation in the Requiem of Rosa das rosas et Fror das frores, Rose of all roses and flower of flowers, 2007. During the period of composition represented by the two works featured on dona das donas, Sennor das Sennores, gift of all gifts and Lord of Lords. this disc, Tavener’s morbid sensibilities were perhaps at their height as the titles of Rosa del beldad e de parecer Rose of such beauty and gentle being, contemporaneous works indicate: Celtic Requiem (1969), Responsorium in Memory et Fror d’alegria et de prazer. flower of our gladness, O flower of pleasure, of Annon Lee Silver (1971), In Memoriam (1971) and Ultimos Ritos Dona en mui piadosa ser, whose gift is this, a merciful child, (1972); even his opera Thérèse (1973-1976) is concerned with the death of the famous Sennor en toller coitas et do’ores. the Lord who hears all our troubles and weeping, Carmelite Saint Theresa. A tal Sennor deu‘o me muit’ amar to one such a Lord we owe all our love, que de todo malo pode guardar. who keeps us from harm, Canciones Españolas are settings, or treatments, of six Spanish folk songs about Et podell’os pecados perdonar, who pardons our sins, love and death, for two high voices, two flutes (both doubling piccolo) and alto que far no menudo per maos sabores. and opens his arms to embrace our sorrows. flute, amplified harpsichord, chamber organ and percussion (hand bells, side Alfonso X el Sabio drum and 4 small gongs). In the large choral work Ultimos Ritos, completed just before he started work on Canciones Españolas, Tavener had used ancient Spanish material in a distorted form and he now decided to present the material in a more straightforward manner. The ‘original’ music is by Alonso de Muddura or by King Alfonso X el Sabio or anonymous. The songs are framed by a ‘prelude’ and ‘postlude’, an instrumental canon previously published as In Memoriam Igor Stravinsky. The prelude grows out of the opening unaccompanied ‘Si la noche se hace oscura’ and the postlude (a palindrome of the prelude) returns to the material of the opening. Another purely instrumental section provides a central ‘interlude’. In the settings, the solo voice invariably sings the original song, shadowed by the other voice, whilst the flute families, amplified harpsichord, percussion and chamber organ provide a colourful background commentary upon the text. The livelier, dance-like settings are strongly rhythmical and conjure up an archaic atmosphere with their use of amplified harpsichord and pipe and tabor-like handling of piccolos and side drum. In his spare, but highly-charged scoring, Tavener deftly evokes a sultry Spanish flavour, akin to that encountered in Denis ApIvor’s intense Lorca settings. Dedicated to Philip, Gloria and Héloise Pilkington, Canciones Españolas was commissioned by the London Sinfonietta and first performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 8 June 1972; James Bowman and Kevin Smith were the soloists, with members of the London Sinfonietta conducted by the composer. 4 9 IV Requiem for Father Malachy was written in memory of Father Malachy Lynch Dime a do tienes las mientes, Tell me where your affections lie (1899-1972) of the Carmelite Priory at Allington Castle in Aylesford, Kent. Although pastorcico descuidado, O, careless shepherd boy, they met infrequently, Father Malachy’s wide-ranging but pragmatic scholarship (he que se te pierde el ganado, for while you lose the flock, welcomed a wide range of believers from Methodists to Sufis) and deep spirituality que se te pierde el ganado, for while you lose the flock, made a lasting impression on Tavener, who appears to have taken to heart the nunera duermo siempre afano I never sleep but always labour, instruction on notices in medieval script which the prior habitually put up around y ansi como con fatigas, and as my body wearies the castle: ‘Keep the medieval spirit of Art alive’. On 10 May 1972, Father Malachy’s que se me hielan las migas so every morsel hardens funeral was held at the outdoor shrine in the grounds of Aylesford Priory. At the height entre la boca y la mano, between hand and mouth, of a thunderstorm during the ceremony, Tavener heard obsessively in his head, fully cuanta soldada yo gano and all that I earn formed, the 7-note musical motive of what became a Requiem dedicated to Malachy. daré a triste cuitado I give to this wretched one The rest of the work unfolded quickly and fluently on the journey back to London. This por salir de es te cuidado. to relieve him from all care. was the first time a piece had revealed itself to the composer in this way, an experience Alonso de Mudarra that would be repeated several years later when came to him, like a parting gift, as he was driving home from Athene Haraides’s funeral. Canto Pase el agua ma Julietta, dama, Pass across the water my Julietta, woman, A short version entitled Little Requiem for Father Malachy Lynch and scored for choir, pase el agua, venite vous a moy. pass across the water and come to me. two flutes, trumpet, organ and string orchestra was performed in Winchester Cathedral Jumena nay en un vergel, We’ll go into the orchard – on 29 July 1972 by the Choirs of the Southern Cathedrals and the Bournemouth tres rosetas fuy coller three roses she went to pick Sinfonietta under the direction of Martin Neary. Subsequently, the composer was ma Julietta, dama, my Julietta, woman, persuaded by his close friend Clive Wearing, then conductor of the London Sinfonietta pase el agua, venite vous a moy. pass across the water and come to me. Chorus, and to whom the work is dedicated, to expand the piece in length to include Anonymous the whole liturgical text for six soloists and orchestra (the 1973 version heard in this recording). The piece, now entitled Requiem for Father Malachy, was revised once again six years later for soloists, six-part choir and orchestra. The music has a deeply personal connection with Father Malachy, reflected in the use of Latin singular throughout, and in the intimate quality of the scoring in the 1973 setting: six male voices of the King’s Singers (two countertenors, tenor, two and bass) simply accompanied by the reduced forces of a chamber orchestra consisting of two flutes (both doubling piccolo), trumpet, trombone, chamber organ, percussion, timpani, piano and string quartet.

8 5 Though this is a comparatively early liturgical work from Tavener’s ‘modernist’ phase and contains an uncharacteristically high degree of dissonance, many of the Canciones Españolas composer’s fingerprints are already detectable in the score. The sectional structure organised in blocks of music, hieratic, ritual-like literal repetition of passages, liberal I use of plainchant and a mesmeric, tolling use of gongs, tam-tam and hand bells may Si la noche se hace oscura If the night is dark also be found in recent large-scale Tavener works, such as his magnum opus The Veil of y tan corto es el camiiio, and the way is short the Temple and the Requiem. ¿cómo no venis, cómo no venis, amigo? O, my beloved, why do you not come?

The 7-note germinal opening phrase (set to the words ‘Requiem aeternam’) is a serial theme, appearing in retrograde and inversion and also generating the harmony. III Typically, though, the emphasis is on direct, transparent communication rather Pastorcico, non te aduermas Your sheep are grazing badly than working out strictly serial procedures; indeed, much of the music is in unison que mal se repastan tus ovejas. O, little shepherd, do not sleep. or octaves, free from counterpoint. The most substantial and diverse setting is that Son muy malas de guardar They have me quite bewildered, of the ‘Dies Irae’, which begins with an obsessively rhythmical idea. A contrastingly tiénen me desatinado. you see they are so hard to keep! mystical passage (‘Recordare, Jesu pie’), almost Webernian in its pointillist treatment, is punctuated by instrumental episodes anchored by a tolling tam-tam and piano Cuida que me han de matar Be careful or they’ll kill me in low register. This is followed by a more driven section (‘Confutatis maledictis’) o me mienten mis ovejas, or yet deceive me, my own sheep, marked ‘very fierce’, presented parlando and propelled by tom-tom rhythms, later y yo, triste, decansado, I fear I cannot graze them, joined by strings. A hypnotically meditative treatment of ‘Lacrymosa, dies illa’ closes no las puedo repastar. being sad and wanting sleep. the ‘Dies Irae’. The ‘Hosanna’, with its powerful tam-tam strokes and sonorous, abyssal trombone declamations, is strikingly prophetic of The Veil of the Temple’s Ya no me puedo apartar Alas. I cannot leave them, sound-world, whilst the final ‘Libera Me’ concludes with a Messiaen-like ecstatically de guardar a mis ovejas. I must be shepherd to my ewes. rapt setting of ‘in paradisium’, gradually unfolding under a gently tolling ostinato of Que si las dejas perder I’ll count you as the lost one offstage hand bells, accompanied by sustained notes on the piano, ppppp and marked yo te cuento por perdido. if these your sheep you dare to lose ‘like swinging bells’. The final bars taper away into nothing, but the music continues to resonate in the mind long after it has physically ceased. Anonymous

The original version of Requiem for Father Malachy was commissioned by the Nash Concerts Society. It was first performed by the The King’s Singers and members of the Nash Ensemble, conducted by the composer at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 10 June 1973. PAUL CONWAY

6 7 REQUIEM FOR FATHER MALACHY TAVENER CANCIONES ESPAÑOLAS SRCD.311 REQUIEM FOR FATHER MALACHY TAVENER CANCIONES ESPAÑOLAS STEREO ADD

JOHN TAVENER (b.1944) Canciones españolas (1972)* (16’23”) 10 IX Tres morias m’enamoram. 1 I Si la noche se hace oscura (1’00”) (Anónimo) (0’48”) 2 II Prelude (1’35”) 11 X Postlude (1’27”) 3 III Pastorcico, non te aduermas. 12 XI Háceme vivir penada (1’24”) (Anónimo) (1’05”) 4 IV Dime a do tienes las mientes. Requiem for Father Malachy (1973)** (35’27”) (Alonso de Mudarra) (1’58”) 13 Requiem aeternam (4’50”) 5 V Pase el agua ma Julietta. Danza. 14 Kyrie eleison (3’37”) KING’S SINGERS/TAVENER BOWMAN/SMITH/NASH ENSEMBLE KING’S SINGERS/TAVENER BOWMAN/SMITH/NASH ENSEMBLE (Anónimo) (0’53”) 15 Dies Irae (9’41”) 6 Canto (0’26”) 16 Offertorium (3’33”) 7 VI Interlude (1’15”) 17 Sanctus (1’27”) 8 VII Rosa das Rosas. Cantiga de Santa 18 Hosanna (2’29”) Maria. (Alfonso X el Sabio) (3’11”) 19 Agnus Dei (2’58”) 9 VIII Maravillosos et Piadosos. 20 Libera me (6’52”) Cantiga de Santa Maria. (52’00”) (Alfonso X el Sabio) (1’21”) * James Bowman & Kevin Smith ** The King’s Singers Nigel Perrin countertenor, Alastair Hume countertenor, Alastair Thompson tenor, Tony Holt baritone, Simon Carrington baritone, Brian Kay bass The Nash Ensemble conducted by John Tavener

The above individual timings will normally each include two pauses. One before the beginning of each movement or work, and one after the end. SRCD.311 SRCD.311

LYRITA P 1976 The copyright in these sound recordings is owned by LYRITA Lyrita Recorded Edition, England This compilation and digital remastering P 2009 Lyrita Recorded Edition, England C 2009 Lyrita Recorded Edition, England. Made in the UK LYRITA RECORDED EDITION. Produced under an exclusive license from Lyrita by Wyastone Estate Ltd, PO Box 87, Monmouth, NP25 3WX, UK