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Music

Peter Phillips: I saw the other side of John Taverner

The composer believed in miracles, but the image of an unsmiling preacher is just his public persona

23 November 2013

9:00 AM

23 November 2013

9:00 AM

When I first met John Tavener in 1977, he was still largely known for his dramatic cantata The Whale, which had been performed at the Proms in 1969. By then both John and his Whale had acquired considerable glitter, partly by having the veteran newscaster Alvar Lidell associated with it, and partly through its eventual connection with the Beatles, who had issued it on their Apple label in 1970.

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Peter Phillips is director of the Tallis Scholars.

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