Glory to God For This Transient Life - John Tavener

A short clip from this piece by John Tavener, now available on our newest double-cd release, Heaven & Earth!

The composer writes that this piece is about the transience of life, and more specifically about the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor. Using only two
words in Greek, Tavener extends the syllables over many notes in the style of Byzantine chant. At the end of the piece a solemn procession is taken by the chorus around the building and then out of it, singing the words of the title.
He desires to create, in musical terms, our humility and awe at the magnificent event of the Transfiguration.




Since the 1990s, Tavener's compositions have been heavily influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy and the music of India and Sufi traditions. In his recent autobiography, Tavener discusses his rejection of modernism, and his embrace of tradition. He believes that in traditional sources of music there lies a purer expression of art and a possible human relationship with the divine.

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