Echoes That Remain

Included in the programme are the Requiem by Howells and Song for Athene by John Tavener.

Not released for publication until 1980, Herbert Howells' Requiem for unaccompanied voices, an exquisite and deeply personal expression of loss, was initially thought to be a first draft of that work, composed soon after his son Michael's death in 1935. However, the researches of Howells’ biographer revealed that the Requiem was in fact composed in 1932, some three years before Michael died. This is a wonderful, heart-aching work of searing beauty.

Song for Athene was written in 1993 as a tribute to a young family friend of John Tavener’s , Athene Hariades, who died in a cycling accident. Athene’s love of acting and of the music of the Orthodox Church led the composer to combine words from Shakespeare’s Hamlet with words from the Orthodox funeral service. The work became part of popular culture after it was performed at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.