Tavener: Svyati (2005)

Since the composition of The Protecting Veil in 1987, the cello has played an important role in John Tavener's music. Even when he was writing for instruments during the 1989-1995 period when the music on Svyati originated, Tavener's works carried strong overtones of Russian Orthodox church services, and the cello here, as Tavener himself points out, sometimes seems to stand in for the voice of a priest. These pieces have been recorded before, but cellist Steven Isserlis, who premiered The Protecting Veil and some of the ... Read More

Since the composition of The Protecting Veil in 1987, the cello has played an important role in John Tavener's music. Even when he was writing for instruments during the 1989-1995 period when the music on Svyati originated, Tavener's works carried strong overtones of Russian Orthodox church services, and the cello here, as Tavener himself points out, sometimes seems to stand in for the voice of a priest. These pieces have been recorded before, but cellist Steven Isserlis, who premiered The Protecting Veil and some of the works included here, sheds valuable light on this phase of Tavener's career by bringing them together on one disc. The five works included are quite diverse, with the cello playing a slightly different role in each. The most typical of Tavener's predominantly choral output, as well as perhaps the most successful of the five, is the opening work and title track; Svyati is based on a segment of the Russian Orthodox liturgy known as the Trisagion ("O holy God, holy and strong, holy and... Read Less