'Behind the Veil': John Tavener on Television (and Television on John Tavener)
In person only (KCT4, King’s College: 1-3pm, Thurs April 16)
John Tavener (1944-2013) was one of the country’s leading composers, famed for his meditative cello concerto The Protecting Veil and his haunting Song for Athene that was performed at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. Amongst contemporary British composers of the era, he was one of the most prominent in the mainstream media, particularly on television, something very few of his peers would be able to match. In this presentation I hope to show Tavener’s shifting relationship with television and how this relationship suited both parties, changing the way we think about contemporary composers and mass media.
Phillip Cooke is Professor of Composition at the University of Aberdeen, a position he held since 2022. He was Head of the Department of Music from 2018-2021 and Head of Cluster from 2022-2024. Prior to being in Aberdeen, he was a Junior Research Fellow at Queen’s College, Oxford University and a Career Development Fellow at the Faculty of Music. He is mainly active as a composer with many of his pieces regularly performed and broadcast around the world. He has written two books, The Music of Herbert Howells (Boydell Press, 2013) and The Music of James MacMillan (Boydell Press, 2019).
- Speaker
- Professor Phillip Cooke
- Hosted by
- University of Aberdeen
- Venue
- King's College
- Contact
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For further information, please contact Dr Christina Ballico at: christina.ballico@abdn.ac.uk.