The English composer John Tavener was a piano pupil of Solomon and a composition pupil of Lennox Berkeley at the Royal Academy of Music in London, acquiring a knowledge of contemporary French music through David Lumsdaine. As a composer he has been drawn to religious subjects, inspired by his interest in the Greek Orthodox Church. He was knighted in 2000.

Vocal and Choral Music
Tavener has set a variety of liturgical texts, being as eclectic in his choice as in his musical language. He won early success with his biblical cantata The Whale, and includes among his songs a number of settings of texts by the Greek Orthodox Abbess Mother Thekla. His Song for Athene draws on Shakespeare as well as the Orthodox service for the Ascension and Mother Thekla, and his Lament for Jerusalem, which he describes as a mystical love song, uses Christian, Judaic and Islamic texts, sung in Greek and English.

Operas
Tavener’s operas range from Thérèse and The Immurement of Antigone to St Mary of Egypt, with a text from Mother Thekla, and Let’s begin again.

Orchestral Music
Among the best known of Tavener’s orchestral works is The Protecting Veil, for cello and strings. The Repentant Thief is scored for clarinet, percussion and strings, and the piano concerto Pratirupa draws on Hindu sources of inspiration.