Song for Athene

John Tavener composed this motet blending Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' with the Eastern Orthodox Alleluia and the text of Psalm 4:8 ('In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety'), creating a farewell for a young girl killed in a cycling accident. Its worldwide fame came when it was sung at the funeral of Princess Diana at Westminster Abbey in 1997, broadcast to an estimated 2.5 billion viewers. The work exemplifies Tavener's sacred minimalism, in which the slow pulse of Eastern chant carries simple biblical words to transcendent effect.