The Full Works Concert - Thursday 13 November, 8pm

Catherine Bott pays tribute to Sir John Tavener with his spectacular cello work, The Protecting Veil

Tonight’s Full Works Concert marks the life of the composer John Tavener, who died at this time last year.

Tavener studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and converted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1977, something which became a strong influence on his music. The Lamb, a 1982 choral setting of a William Blake poem, continues to be a popular and regularly performed piece. Tavener's Song For Athene was played at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, bringing his music to a worldwide audience. He received a knighthood in the Queen's Millennium Honours List in 2000.

Tavener was also known for his works The Whale, premiered in 1968 and released on the Beatles' Apple label, and The Protecting Veil, which was written after a suggestion from the cellist Steven Isserlis. It's that seminal recording that Catherine plays tonight.

Rossini’s overture to La Cenerentola opens the concert, which also features two popular orchestral pieces - Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 38. 

DISCOVER: Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 > 

Rossini: La Cenerentola - Overture
Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of the National Academy of St Cecilia

Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D major
Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts Concentus Musicus Vienna

John Tavener: The Protecting Veil
Cello: Stephen Isserlis
Gennady Rozhedstvensky conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No.38 in G minor K.550
Rene Jacobs conducts the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra