Tavener, John: Ex Maria Virginie (Naxos Audio CD)

James McVinnie (organ)
Stefan Berkieta (baritone)
Simon Thomas Jacobs (organ)
Choir of Clare College Cambridge
Timothy Brown


Admired for the sheer beauty of his meditative and mystical music, John Tavener writes of his Ex Maria Virgine, which was dedicated to HRH the Prince of Wales and HRH the Duchess of Cornwall in joyful celebration of their marriage: “I have set both familiar and less well known texts, and linked them with an expanding and contracting phrase ‘Ex Maria Virgine’. This refers to Mary the Mother of God—‘The Eternal Feminine’—and should be sung with great radiance and femininity.”

The other, mainly unaccompanied, works reveal Tavener’s response to various poetic texts that also praise the Virgin Mary.

John Rutter is the producer, editor and engineer on this disc.

“The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge is secure and precise, delivering the text with excellent diction… Strong direction from Timothy Brown.” BBC Music Magazine

“John Tavener's choral music is inspired by his Orthodox faith, and on this disc the choir…. eloquently communicate the music's timeless spirituality…[and] the composer's richly coloured blend of Eastern and Western liturgical traditions.”
The Daily Telegraph