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To the satisfaction of some observers and the astonishment of others,
John Tavener has become one of the most popular and successful classical composers alive today. The marvelously simple and consoling "
Song for Athene," which was sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales (and which nearly stole the show from "Candle in the Wind"), isn't the only instance. Tavener's 1987 cello concerto
The Protecting Veil, for example, drew more large-scale audience interest and genuine excitement, especially in Britain, than had any new cello concerto for decades; the composer's
a cappella choral works are sung in church services and concert halls all over the world. Many concertgoers and record buyers seem attracted to and even grateful for the simplicity and spirituality of much of Tavener's music. Others--and not only professional critics--find some characteristics of his music, and his persona, off-putting and even stupefying. Much of Tavener's writing is deliberately repetitive: "I hate progress, I hate development, and I hate evolution in most things; but in music particularly," he says. His public utterances are often unnecessarily inflammatory (such as suggesting that all opera houses and concert halls should be destroyed and that Western culture is dead and rotting). His spirituality and belief in Eastern Orthodoxy often appear ostentatious. (How many times has the man posed for photographs surrounded by ikons and candles?)
The Music of Silence: A Composer's Testament has been assembled and edited by Brian Keeble from extensive interviews with Tavener at his Greek-island home. The second half of the book, which is largely in interview format, should be quite valuable for those who are moved by his music or just want to understand what the composer is up to. Tavener's explanations of his concept of his music as "ikons in sound," the crucial differences he sees between the Christianity of the Orthodox East and the Latin West, and his goals in writing particular works such as Mary of Egypt and Fall and Resurrection are enlightening and often fascinating.
But the first half of the book is insufferable. "In Retrospect" purports to review Tavener's life and compositional career more or less chronologically. Not only are both the prose and the material disjointed, rambling, and repetitive (for which Keeble shares blame) but overbearing self-regard and spiritual pretentiousness seem to ooze from every page like "liquid metaphysics" (a term Tavener uses to describe his music). It is, frankly, off-putting and stupefying. This reader alternated between bemused annoyance and an intense desire to see the composer parodied by a comic actor (as when he writes, "I had a vision in the bath one day").
One can't help wishing the composer would emulate his spiritual adviser and sometime librettist, the down-to-earth, no-nonsense Mother Thekla. He quotes her instructing him on how to approach Akathist of Thanksgiving: "Just get on with it, dear." May John Tavener take that advice well and truly to heart. --Matthew Westphal
From Publishers Weekly
The popular British composer Tavener, whose "Song for Athene" was played at Princess Diana's funeral, attempts to set forth the principles that inform his work. First, Tavener chronicles his musical development and his lifelong search for spiritual meaning, a preoccupation that led him to enter the Russian Orthodox Church in 1977. (Later, he accepted the abbess of an Orthodox monastery in Yorkshire, Mother Thekla, as a spiritual mentor.) Tavener's desire to articulate music according to an eternal, sacred tradition eventually led him to abandon Western procedures in favor of the Eastern Orthodox tonal system and structure, which he uses to "make ikons in sound." The second part of the book consists of a series of conversations with his longtime friend Keeble, who poses questions that lead to discussions of, among other things, Tavener's working methods, his dislikes (modernism, minimalism, opera houses and concert halls, for example) and the metaphysical aspects of his music, such as the significance for him of the ison (the drone that is the acoustic representation of the silence of God in Eastern music). Six commentaries on some of his major works comprise the final section. Although Tavener claims not to care about his audience, he has written a book that will help listeners comprehend the spiritual essence of his compositions. A short postlude by Keeble sums up the composer's philosophy and aptly emphasizes that Tavener's testament should "remind us of how deeply mysterious a thing music is." B&w photos, discography. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
