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Tavener breaks no new ground here in this work for voices and small orchestra. Rather as with his huge choral work ‘The Veil of the Temple’ composed a few years earlier, there is a sense that he is using the whole of his musical career so far as a quarry for this edifice. Whereas The Veil of the Temple sounded like a collage of the high points of his journey, Lament For Jerusalem is a distilling of its essence. Where The Viel of the Temple sounded like pilgrimage, Lament for Jerusalem sounds like arrival.
If you have never heard John Tavener, what does this sound like? The classical English Choral tradition is all pervading, but with Russian and Middle Eastern accents. The style is not so far from the richer voice of Arvo Part from about 1990 onwards. The sleeve notes have a comparison with Steve Reich, but quite frankly Tavener is a more accomplished composer, and his influences are far more deeply integrated into his vision.
Finally to the subject of the work. The Lament in the title is that of Jesus when he looks over Jerusalem shortly before his death and laments that it has rejected every messenger God has sent it. The work is in seven cycles in which the Lament gradually unfolds, another line being added to the text in each cycle until it is complete. The repetition is both a musical means; with each cycle being a gradual elaboration on the last within a severe but beautiful musical language, and the bearer of the music’s message of God’s faithfulness despite human failing. Much has been made of Tavener’s progression from Russian Orthodox Christian Faith to a more Universal outlook, but the content of this work is purely Christian; the texts from other religions used here only serve to underline the work’s central theme.
This version of the work is that used on a tour of Israel/Palestine by the artists here, the Orchestra and choir of London. It was specially prepared by the composer for those forces and the Palestinian and Israeli musicians who worked with them. This recording is an impressive achievement; it is a near perfect realisation of the work.
"it is both a cri de coeur at the loss of peace in a place where religions once co-existed in harmony, and an affirmation of the power of love to bring together all 'who seek God, from whatever tradition they come'". Thus, Tavener's work remains more spiritual/mystical than "religious".
It is a beautiful album. The transcendent highs at the end of every Lament are somewhat reminiscent of Tavener's Funeral Canticle. Darkness into Light will always be my favorite Tavener album. However, I'm sure this one will take its place near the top.
I've been a lukewarm Tavener fan, lumping his music with that of Pärt and others I perceive as background music: lovely but cloying. That's personal opinion and of course unfair. "Lament for Jerusalem" has guts and passion in addition to its technical difficulty, and I'm going to give my other Tavener CD's another listen.
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