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The best recordings of works by John Tavener

We round up some of the greatest recordings of the British composing legend Sir John Tavener

John Tavener best recordings

Freya Parr

Published: January 28, 2020 at 5:18 pm

Ikon of Light

The Sixteen/Harry Christophers Coro 16015

A good introduction to Tavener’s finest choral writing, including The Lamb and the early seven-movement sequence that gives the disc its name.

The Protecting Veil

Steven Isserlis (cello); London Symphony Orchestra/Gennady Rozhdestvensky Erato 3-63293

A classic release of the hypnotically spaced-out score that still wins converts after 18 years. We named the London Symphony Orchestra one of the best orchestras in the world.

Ex Maria Virgine

Choir of Clare College, Cambridge/Timothy Brown Naxos 8.572168

A recent carol sequence that does surprising things to familiar texts.

Requiem

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko EMI 235 1342

In his later, stylistically inclusive mode, the Requiem contains grandiloquence and a state of surrender.

Read more of our reviews of the latest Tavener recordings

Find out more about Tavener and his works here

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Freya Parr

Digital Editor and Staff Writer, BBC Music Magazine

Freya Parr is BBC Music Magazine's digital editor and staff writer, editing and writing on all styles of music across both the website and print magazine. She has also written for titles including the Guardian, Circus Journal, Frankie and Suitcase Magazine, and runs The Noiseletter, a fortnightly arts and culture publication. Freya's main areas of interest and research lie in 20th-century and contemporary music. She's a regular sea shanty singer, folk obsessive and occasional flautist, pianist, organist and musical theatre director.
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