The Protecting Veil

John Tavener (1944-2013) would not convert to the Orthodox Christian faith for which he came to be well-known until 1977, but his interest in religious and spiritual themes can be traced back to his earliest pieces; carols and hymns inspired by his Presbyterian upbringing. After studying at the Royal Academy of Music with Lennox Berkeley and David Lumsdaine, he burst onto the British music scene when the London Sinfonietta premiered The Whale (1966) in 1968. Taking as its theme the Biblical allegory of Jonah and the Whale, it was unexpected, perhaps, that it would be released on The Beatles’ Apple Records. At only 24, he experienced a level of popularity and notoriety that he mostly renounced, preferring to seek spiritual and artistic clarity.

By the end of the 1980s, Tavener was deeply committed to Orthodox tradition and had built a firm foundation for a body of work rich in religious symbolism and iconography and concerned little with modernist convention. He described The Protecting Veil (1988), one of his most famous works, as “an attempt to make a lyrical icon in sound.” The genesis of the piece’s title is a particular Orthodox feast day; on the first of October, the church celebrates the appearance of Mary, the Mother of God, to a Holy Fool and his disciple in 10^th-century Constantinople. But the work in totality takes a wider view of Mary’s life. It is infused with Tavener’s deep reverence for the “Eternal Feminine,” or what he considered the divine energy of femininity at the centre of many world religions.

 

Scored for solo cello and string orchestra, The Protecting Veil is written in eight continuous sections based on various episodes of Mary’s life and corresponding to particular feast days, utilising the eight modes of Byzantine chant. Even with this clear subject matter, the composer felt it was “perfectly possible to listen to [the piece] as ‘pure’ music.” It was premiered as part of the 1989 BBC Proms with soloist Steven Isserlis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Oliver Knussen and has since received hundreds of live performances and several commercial recordings.

The unforgettable solo cello part, meant to represent the voice of Mary herself, has since been performed and recorded by many prominent cellists, including Raphael Wallfisch, Matthew Barley, Natalie Clein, Leonard Elschenbroich, Jacob Shaw and Nicolas Altstaedt. In 2024, Guy Johnston, one of the few cellists to have worked with Tavener personally, toured the work with the Britten Sinfonia in performances across the UK. Matthew Barley marked the 30^th anniversary of the piece in 2019 with a concert and album release that was the highlight of a Tavener festival and symposium.

The Protecting Veil was premiered as part of a very full programme in 1989. Knussen’s own Flourish with Fireworks opened the concert, followed by Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and Minna Keal’s Symphony in the first half. After the interval, the Tavener was followed by Mussorgsky's lntermezzo in modo classico and Stravinsky's Song of the Nightingale. Though today’s audiences may prefer a more streamlined evening, the programming possibilities remain numerous, whether the focus is musical variety, thematic cohesion or works that call for similar string forces.

 

Programming with The Protecting Veil

Bryce Dessner
Lachrimae (2012) 15 min

In writing this piece for string orchestra, Dessner was inspired by both John Downland’s Renaissance work of the same name and by Bartók's Divertimento, which he considers the pinnacle of string writing. On a programme with Tavener, Lachrimae provides textural contrast and complementary exuberance. 

Aaron Jay Kernis
Musica Celestis (1990) 11 min

In the composer’s words, “Musica Celestis is inspired by the medieval conception of that phrase which refers to the singing of the angels in heaven in praise of God without end… [I] found this to be a potent image that has been reinforced by listening to a good deal of medieval music, especially the soaring work of Hildegard of Bingen.” A thematically harmonious pairing.

Missy Mazzoli
Dark with Excessive Bright (2018) 13 min

Mazzoli writes of this piece for contrabass and string orchestra: “While loosely based in Baroque idioms, [it] slips between string techniques from several centuries, all while twisting a pattern of repeated chords beyond recognition. ‘Dark with excessive bright,’ a phrase from Milton's Paradise Lost, is a surreal and evocative description of God, written by a blind man.”

Maja S. K. Ratkje
Tale of Lead and Frozen Light (2014) 15 min

Ratkje wrote the original string quartet from which this piece emerged in response to the violent events that took place in Norway in July 2011. Deeply inspired by Beethoven, she writes, “The ambiguity in the title reflects both hope and dread. Beethoven’s light shines through, strong and full of life!”

Erkki-Sven Tüür
L'ombra della croce (2014) 6 min

L’ombra della croce takes as its basis the initial motif of Gesualdo’s motet “O Crux Benedicta,” a foundation on which Tüür builds a brief but lush and energetic tower of string music.  

Judith Weir
Still, Glowing (2008) 4 min
A short “ambient” piece (Weir’s only foray into such a style), it is both a tranquil contrast to The Protecting Veil and a similarly meditative listening experience, perhaps also inviting the audience toward something approaching transcendence.

Henri Dutilleux
Mystère de l'Instant (1989) 16 min

A feast of timbres, Mystère de l'Instant is concerned primarily with musical creation. Each of its ten short movements is a kind of meditation, not unlike the distinct but connected sections of The Protecting Veil, but offering much in the way of contrasting orchestral colours and style.

 

 

 

Discover more of Sir John Tavener's prolific work in our 'Absolute Masters' podcast where we discuss The Protecting Veil as well as other works such as The Whale and Song for Athene.