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    Tavener

    Pictures

    John Tavener: a life in pictures

    On the news of his death, we look at what made Sir John Tavener a great composer.

    1. John Tavener

      1. Royal Academy

      As a student, Tavener studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, where he shone as a composer and wrote works for the newly formed London Sinfonietta.

    2. John Tavener

      2. John Tavener and Paul McCartney

      Tavener's early success with The Whale was perhaps inevitable - it was released on The Beatles' Apple label. He was also a friend of John Lennon and Ringo Starr during their mid-1960s Beatles peak.

    3. John Tavener

      3. The Protecting Veil

      He collaborated with cellist Stephen Isserlis in 1988 for the epic piece The Protecting Veil, which was premiered the year after.

    4. John Tavener

      4. Religious conversion

      Tavener underwent a religious conversion in 1977, after exploring many different elements of world faiths. He converted to the Russian Orthodox Church, which went on to be a big influence on his music.

    5. John Tavener

      5. The Lamb

      The Lamb, a haunting unaccompanied work for choir, is still performed regularly today. It embodies his religious influences and his musical language perhaps more clearly than any other of his works.

    6. John Tavener

      6. Song For Athene

      Tavener will perhaps always be best known for his 'Song For Athene', which was performed at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. Photo: Simone Canetty-Clarke

    7. John Tavener

      7. A knighthood in 2000

      The year 2000 saw John Tavener officially become Sir John Tavener in the Queen's Millennium Honours List.

    8. John Tavener

      8. Triumph at the Ivor Novello awards

      In 2005, Tavener was presented with an Ivor Novello award for Classical Music, given to him by Stephen Fry.

    9. John Tavener

      9. "Everything else is an illusion..."

      Tavener was known for his strong views on religion, which he simply and eloquently put into words on the occasion of his 60th brithday: "The one thing that exists is God: everything else is an illusion... If you love someone, you don’t really love that person, you love God. I can’t see it any other way. There’s only one being, one thing. There’s only one God and only one thing that exists, and that is God. We are God, and we have to find that in ourselves. It’s you and I, there is no other. It’s all one."

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