Composer John Tavener Dead At 69

He first drew notice for his clangorous scores The Whale and Celtic Requiem (recorded on the Beatles’ Apple label); earned broad popularity with works, such as the cello concerto The Protecting Veil and the voices-and-strings miniature The Bridegroom, infused with Eastern Orthdox Christian mysticism; went universalist with his seven-hour The Veil of the Temple. He gained worldwide fame when his simple Song for Athene was sung at Princess Diana’s funeral.

Germany To Form Task Force On Looted Art

“After an avalanche of criticism at home and abroad, the German government announced late Monday it will establish a task force to investigate, ‘as quickly and as transparently as possible,’ the provenance of a cache of more than 1,400 artworks that are suspected of being traded or looted during the Nazis’ reign and that are now in the hands of authorities in Bavaria.”