Four months earlier, at the funeral of Princess Diana in Westminster Abbey, Song for Athene had made a huge impact, sung as the pall-bearers carried the Princess’s coffin to the West Door. It was composed in 1993, in memory of the young Greek actress, Athene Hariades, who had been killed in a cycling accident; the striking combination of texts had come from John’s spiritual adviser and mentor, the Orthodox nun Mother Thekla. Here is what the Times critic, Richard Morrison, wrote after the first performance in January 1994 at the BBC Ikons Festival celebrating John’s fiftieth birthday: ‘Tavener has set lines from Hamlet and from the Orthodox funeral service. The voices rise and fall over a drone. Then at the end, they turn majestically and movingly from minor to major. As in Bach’s ‘Crucifixus’, the meaning is unmistakable—something poignant, beautiful and truthful is expressed in fewer notes than the average pop song.’ The arrangement for upper voices and organ on this recording is by Barry Rose, who also arranged the next two pieces on the album.

from notes by Martin Neary © 2019