He was a composer born in Wembley, London, England, who studied at Highgate School with a fellow pupil being the composer/conductor John Rutter. He went on to attend the Royal Academy of Music where Sir Lennox Berkeley taught him, among others.
When he was 24 he composed The Whale, which was a cantata, based on the story of Jonah and the whale, premiered by the London Sinfonietta. Ringo Starr had received a tape of the piece and after having dinner with John Lennon and Yoko Ono; John Lennon decided to record it on the new Apple label. This catapulted him into the beginning of a long and successful career in composition and after becoming a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, its traditions and theology played a large part in his works.
Often having composers such as Stravinsky, Arvo Part and Oliver Messaien named as the influences of his earlier works, he was later seen to use the influences from non-Western music and religions.
A sufferer of Marfan Syndrome, which affects the physical features and frame, he underwent major heart surgery in 1991 in which he nearly died. This experiences was the basis for “Last Sleep of the Virgin” written for a string quartet. He moved to Greece after further surgery and Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2000.
He died at his home in Child Okeford, Dorset in 2013 when he was 69 years old.
His compositions include The Protecting Veil, Sixteen Haiku of Seferis, the opera Therese, The Beautiful Names, Eternity’s Sunrise dedicated to the memory of Princess Diana, “The Lamb” which is often heard as a Christmas carol, and a new setting for the carol “Away in a Manger”.
Sources:
- http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~snc/jtlife.htm
- http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/acc/tavener.html
- http://www.chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=2&composerId_2905=1567
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tavener