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John tavener the hidden face full#
The viols played what seemed like a constantly repeating sustained figure full of Tavener's parallel harmonies, and over this the two soloists exchanged melismatic phrases, developing into something truly rapturous. The work sets a prayer and Tavener describes it as a prayer and to be deliberately with 'nothing personal or idiosyncratic'. Fretwork and Iestyn Davies were joined by oboist Nicholas Daniel, with the two soloists playing from the balcony and the deep gloom of the lighting making them almost invisible.
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The Hidden Face was another work written for Michael Chance, but originally for counter-tenor, oboe and strings but here given in Fretwork's version for viols.
![john tavener the hidden face john tavener the hidden face](http://www.classical.net/music/recs/images/n/nxs54388.jpg)
Another interest of Tavener's in the piece were sections where viols paralleled the voice, and this brought great admiration for the technical skill and perspicacity of the players. Here Fretwork was joined by counter-tenor Iestyn Davies for a work which seemed to relish the contrast between the highly lyrical, melismatic vocal line and the strongly textured sustained chords of the viols. Nipson for countertenor and viol consort was written for Chance and Fretwork in 1998 and sets a Greek palindrome which translates as Wash the sins, not only the face though there was other text too (at least a Kyrie eleison in one section) but this was not printed in the programme. The two works by Sir John Tavener were originally written for the counter-tenor Michael Chance. Whilst much of the performance achieved a lovely meditative calm, the Agnus Dei really built to a lovely sense of climax. There was a real sense of this being a conversation between friends, with a lovely interweaving of musical line, and harmony. Taverner's writing alternates tutti sections with smaller groups and this gave scope for some lovely individual interactions between players. But what we had was a wonderfully rich toned texture with the mellow, speaking tones of the viols. Because of the way the viols are played with bows, though there was light and shade the ebb and flow in individual lines seemed to be less. With no words you relied on the musical articulation of the players, and this became a very different experience. It was strange at first hearing the mass played instrumentally, it was the same music yet transformed. But it was common to do so in the 16th century and in fact the In nomine section from Taverner's mass so gripped musicians and composers in this period that it gave rise to a distinct English form right up to Purcell who wrote a pair of In nomines. Performing John Taverner's great mass with just a viol concert (Asako Morikawa, Richard Boothby, Reiko Ichise, Emily Ashton, Richard Tunnicliffe, Sam Stadlen) might not seem an immediately obvious move.
John tavener the hidden face series#
The concert was part of King's Place's Minimalism Unwrapped series which has run for 2015, and it contrasted two composer neither of whom are strictly minimal but whose style has important links. Two Tave(r)ners on viols, a 16th century mass and contemporary music for counter-tenor and violsįretwork's programme at Kings Place on Friday 18 December 2015 brought together music by the two John Tave(r)ners, with the Missa Gloria tibi trinitas by John Taverner (1490-1545) and Nipson and The Hidden Face by Sir John Tavener (1944-2013) with the viol ensemble being joined by counter-tenor Iestyn Davies and oboist Nicholas Daniel. John Taverner Missa gloria tibi trinitas, John Tavener Nipson, The Hidden Face Iestyn Davies, Nicholas Daniel, Fretwork Kings Place Fretwork (Asako Morikawa, Richard Boothby,