Tavener at Brighton Festival
3rd April 2008
Sollemnitas is a large-scale setting of the Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Lasting around 100 minutes, like many of Tavener’s recent works, it takes a universalist approach, incorporating elements of the Christian, Hindu and American Indian faiths and setting texts in Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, Aramaic, Greek, American Indian, German and Italian. The piece was commissioned by the Festival Religio Musica Nova and Saint Thomas’ Church, Fifth Avenue, New York and has already been performed in Zurich and New York.
The all-Tavener evening in Brighton opens with a performance of The Protecting Veil with cellist Steven Isserlis.
