![\"Sir](\"https:\/\/www.krishnatemple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/tavener-feasture.jpg\"\n)
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n \n<\/p>\n
\n \n \u201cIn January 2005, my old friend Ian Roberts told me that the celebrated \n Two days later, Tavener phoned me in London and invited me to stay overnight \n The proposed opera was immense in scope: a mystical retelling of Krishna\u2019s \n \u201cI want a very rigid mathematical structure,\u201d he wrote, \u201cin order to allow the \n He wanted the work to possess the childlike simplicity of The Magic \n A second letter soon followed asking me to draft lines for the prologue and \n \u201cHow to create something truly magical \u2013 Snow White \u2013 Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream \n In early February, I travelled to Gillingham station, where Tavener\u2019s wife, \n Tavener met me at the door and immediately led me to a piano. Without pause, \n Gentle lyrical passages represented Yasoda and the infant Krishna. Celestial \n \u201cNow comes the witch Putana,\u201d he said, \u201cwith poison smeared upon her breast.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n The piano surged into violent intensity before dissolving into luminous calm.\n<\/p>\n \u201cKrishna takes her soul to paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n \n It was extraordinary to witness. The music seemed less composed than revealed.\n<\/p>\n \n \n His study looked like a furnace of creativity. Huge sheets of pencilled \n \u201cI must have the right words,\u201d he said. \u201cCan you give me a mantra?\u201d\n<\/p>\n I hesitated before replying.<\/p>\n \n \u201cThe Hare Krishna mantra has everything already. It is itself a love song \u201cTell me more,\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n \n I explained that the mantra could be understood as a divine exchange of love: Tavener immediately grasped the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d he said. \u201cI like that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n For the rest of the afternoon we discussed sacred names, cries for mercy and \n Later, over tea and sandwiches in the kitchen, the conversation became more \n \u201cWhen I am in the middle of composing,\u201d he said, \u201cI can think of nothing else. \n The intensity of his words startled me. He seemed utterly consumed by \n He spoke too of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the lifelong influence \n For Tavener, the Krishna story finally offered that possibility.\n<\/p>\n \n \n As evening fell, we walked beneath Hambledon Hill while his dog Leyla bounded \n The next morning, after breakfast, Tavener drove me to the station. He seemed Then came silence.<\/p>\n \n For months I heard nothing further and wondered whether the project had \n Tavener greeted me warmly and led me straight back into his study. There, \u201cYou gave me exactly what I needed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n He showed me the central love duet. Page after page contained the Hare Krishna \n Tavener also told me that the legendary theatre director Peter \n Years later, I read that the central duet had been previewed at the Manchester \n \u201cThis love duet is the most ecstatic piece of music I have ever written.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n Today, that vision continues to resonate. In honour of the late Tavener\u2019s \n \n \n Learn more about the production, the venue, and ticket booking*:\n<\/p>\n
\n Ranchor Prime, a disciple of ISKCON founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
\n Prabhupada, shared a compelling journey of devotion, music, song, and
\n creative expression:
\n <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n
\n British composer Sir John Tavener was working on a major composition
\n based on the life of Krishna and urgently needed help with the libretto. His
\n Sanskrit adviser from Manchester had recently died, and Ian hoped to introduce
\n me to Tavener through our mutual friend, the Orthodox monk Brother Aiden.\n<\/p>\n
\n at his home in Dorset. He sounded utterly absorbed in what he called his
\n Krishna project. The next morning, a seven-page handwritten letter arrived
\n outlining his \u201crough formal scheme\u201d for a work titled
\n Essence of Krishna<\/em>
\n .\n<\/p>\n
\n life, from his divine birth and childhood pastimes to the Bhagavad-gita and
\n his final departure from the world. Tavener envisioned a carefully mirrored
\n structure moving through childhood, adolescence, adulthood and transcendence,
\n framed by cosmic lamentation and redemption.\n<\/p>\n
\n imagination to fly.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Flute while revealing \u201can eternal metaphysical truth.\u201d Though inspired by
\n Indian spirituality, he was determined the piece should not feel
\n \u201cpseudo-Indian,\u201d even while drawing upon Vedic rhythms and sacred chants.\n<\/p>\n
\n epilogue and experiment with different syllabic patterns. His enthusiasm was
\n infectious. Then came a postcard written hurriedly on a train:\n<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Hindu Temple Drama \u2013 The Magic Flute!!\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Maryanna, collected me. Their home in Child Okeford, beneath Hambledon Hill,
\n was a large former vicarage surrounded by open countryside.\n<\/p>\n
\n he began playing scenes from his unfinished work while narrating them aloud.\n<\/p>\n
\n melodies followed as Krishna sat upon his mother\u2019s lap. Suddenly the music
\n darkened.\n<\/p>\n![\"\"\n](\"https:\/\/www.krishnatemple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Krishna-score-300x164.jpg\"\n)
\n<\/p>\n
\n manuscript covered every surface, with another piano standing in the corner.
\n Almost immediately he turned to what he regarded as the emotional and
\n spiritual centre of the opera: the love duet between Radha and Krishna.\n<\/p>\n
\n between Radha and Krishna.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Krishna calling Radha through the name \u201cHare,\u201d while Radha responds with
\n Krishna\u2019s names, \u201cKrishna\u201d and \u201cRama.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n the deeper symbolism of Krishna\u2019s pastimes. He moved rapidly between theology,
\n music and dramatic structure, hardly pausing for breath. At times he left me
\n alone in the study to draft fragments of text and possible chants for him to
\n consider.\n<\/p>\n
\n personal. Tavener spoke about the agony and ecstasy of composing.\n<\/p>\n
\n I hardly eat or sleep. But once the work is finished, and I have nothing more
\n to create, I feel suicidal.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n spiritual longing. He spoke constantly of God, prayer and transcendence, and
\n confessed that he found the modern world increasingly difficult to inhabit.
\n Sacred music was not merely his profession; it was his means of survival.\n<\/p>\n
\n of
\n The Magic Flute<\/em>
\n . As a child, his grandmother had taken him repeatedly to see the opera, which
\n he regarded as perhaps the greatest work of Western art. Ever since, he had
\n longed to create something with the same innocence, wonder and metaphysical
\n depth.\n<\/p>\n![\"\"\n](\"https:\/\/www.krishnatemple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Krishna-pic-300x179.jpg\"\n)
\n<\/p>\n
\n through the fields ahead of us. We spoke about spiritual life, devotion and
\n the search for God until darkness drove us back to the warmth of the house and
\n a long conversation beside the fire.\n<\/p>\n
\n thoughtful and distant as we said goodbye.\n<\/p>\n
\n collapsed. But nine months later, while returning from Glastonbury, I made an
\n unexpected detour through storm and rain to Child Okeford to discover what had
\n become of the work.\n<\/p>\n
\n spread across tables in towering piles, was the completed score:
\n Krishna Lila: A Mystical Pantomime<\/em>
\n .\n<\/p>\n
\n mantra woven through the music exactly as we had discussed during my first
\n visit. I was astonished. What had begun as a simple conversation about sacred
\n names had become the heart of a major musical work.\n<\/p>\n
\n Brook had expressed interest in collaborating on the production.\n<\/p>\n
\n International Festival. Afterwards, Tavener told reporters:\n<\/p>\n
\n enduring legacy, Grange Park Opera will present the world premiere of
\n Love, Devotion and the Cosmos: Krishna\u2019s Eternal Dance<\/em>
\n in June and July 2026 \u2014 a fitting tribute to a composer who sought, through
\n music, to illuminate the eternal beyond.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ranchor Prime prabhu with <\/em>
\n Sir David Pountney<\/em>
\n ,<\/em>
\n a renowned British opera and theatre director and<\/em>
\n <\/strong>
\n Artistic Director of Grange Park Opera<\/em><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n