How Did John Tavener’s “Song for Athene” Become Associated with British Royalty?

John Tavener was one of the most intriguing, unconventional, and prolific composers in British music, but it’s fair to say that at least for Americans he’s known for only a couple of pieces, notably “The Lamb” and “Song for Athene.” When my own choir sang that first piece I was woefully ignorant about Tavener, thinking that he was some sort of musical flash in the pan. After all, he’d said, “‘The Lamb’ came to me fully grown and was written in an afternoon and dedicated to my nephew Simon for his 3rd birthday.” Doesn’t that quotation make him sound like someone who just jots down musical compositions as the inspiration strikes him, without taking too much thought?

In reality, this picture of John Tavener as a dilettante is very misleading. As I’ve read about the composer’s work and life (he died in 2013 at the age of 69), it’s become very clear that he worked extremely hard on his compositions and took his work very seriously. He also took his religious faith seriously, converting to the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1977. But don’t think that he was some kind of stern and forbidding sourpuss! He also loved fast cars and had a famous collection of them. He seems to have been one of those rare people who just plunges into life in all sorts of ways. This zesty approach is all the more fascinating when you realize that he suffered from serious health issues for most of his adult life, having had a serious stroke in his thirties as well as several heart attacks and cancer. This panoply of disorders probably stemmed at least partially from the fact that he had a condition called “Marfan’s syndrome,” a genetic disease that attacks the heart and usually leads to abnormal height. Tavener was 6 feet 6 inches tall; most medical historians believe that Abraham Lincoln suffered from the same disease. But Tavener (like Lincoln) didn’t let his suffering dampen his humor: “He told a reporter from London’s Guardian newspaper that doctors couldn’t pinpoint a cause of some of the pain he was enduring. ‘All they ever say is, “You’re lucky to be here at all!’” Tavener said, ‘which is charming.’” But he also saw the spiritual side: “Suffering is a kind of ecstasy, in a way. . . . Having pain all the time makes me terribly, terribly grateful for every moment I’ve got.” (both quotations from “In Memoriam of a Genius”)

With this general information in mind about the composer, let’s turn now to the specific piece “Song for Athene.” Its performance at Princess Diana’s funeral made it markedly popular worldwide, but there’s a fascinating history behind its composition and how it was chosen for inclusion in the service that isn’t usually explained. Here’s the best timetable I could come up with:

1. After his conversion to the Orthodox church, Tavener began making regular trips to Greece and also formed a deep friendship with a woman named Mother Thekla, a Russian Orthodox nun who attended Cambridge University and then went on to found a convent in England. She became Tavener’s spiritual mentor after the death of his mother in 1985.
2. Because of his Greek connections, I assume, Tavener also became acquainted with those of Greek heritage living in England. One of these people was a young half-Greek actress and teacher named Athene Persephone Hariades. Tavener had heard her reading Shakespeare aloud in Westminster Abbey and thus may have been predisposed to include the words from Hamlet in his piece. (Why or how she was doing this reading aloud is not explained.) Tavener said of Hariades, “Her beauty, both outward and inner, was reflected in her love of acting, poetry, music and of the Orthodox Church.” She died in 1993 at the age of 26/27 as the result of a cycling accident.
3. “Tavener attended Athene’s funeral, and came away with the music fully-formed in his mind. ‘I rang Mother Thekla that same day,’ he remembered, ‘and I said: “I want words”.’ The next day’s post brought, from Thekla, the quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: ‘May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,’ together with verses from the Orthodox funeral service.” (from “In memoriam of a genius”)
4. Tavener had a commission from the BBC to supply compositions for a CD titled “Ikons: Choral Music of John Tavener,” which was released in 1994. So he had this gorgeous piece all written and decided to have it included in the CD. (I’m doing a bit of assuming here, but that line of thought makes sense.)
5. Prince Charles had become a great fan of Tavener at some point. When Princess Diana died in 1997 Charles requested that “Athene” be included in her funeral service. It was performed as Diana’s coffin was taken out of Westminster Abbey. There’s a sad kind of symmetry in how all this played out: the piece was originally inspired by a funeral for one young woman and then gained its fame by reason of  a funeral for another. (Diana was only 36.) And both women died as the result of an accident.

I’ve gone to some lengths to tease out this chain of events, but the effort has been well worth it as it has deepened my understanding of the piece. I wasn’t able to find out everything I would have liked: for instance, it would be great to know more about Ms. Hariades. But there’s nothing more online about her that I’ve been able to find. The piece itself is quite haunting—and challenging. One of its unusual (to us moderns, anyway) aspects is a “drone” line in the bass part: for the entirety of the piece the basses must sustain an F, either one or two octaves below middle C. The directions on the sheet music say, “Breathe when necessary, but not simultaneously.” Since the piece is almost seven minutes long, we can safely assume that the basses would have to breathe regardless!

I’m including two performance videos. The first is from Diana’s funeral:

And a much less monumental (but still excellent) performance in Denver CO:

And here are the full lyrics with their sources, from Wikipedia:

© Debi Simons