Tavener

Other contemporary composers, such Arvo Pärt and the late John Tavener, have tapped into a musical representation of orthodox Christianity offering spiritual salve to a wider mainstream audience.

Many composers have heard that music too, and have written settings for his work — Greek artists like Mikis Theodorakis, but also foreign musicians including Ned Rorem and John Tavener.

Nicholas Maw wrote a sonata for her, and John Tavener made her the “Divine Eros” in his vast, mystical “Ikon of Eros,” written for the Minnesota Orchestra’s centennial in 2002.

Princess Diana’s funeral, in 1997, featured Croft, but the anthem and procession choices embodied Diana the person: John Tavener’s “Song for Athene,” Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind,” and the second half of the “Libera me, Domine” from Verdi’s Requiem.

With Tavener and Verdi, non-Protestant music and liturgy were included for the first time in a royal or state funeral; and all three works evoke a solemnity and majesty both timely and timeless.