John Tavener’s cello concerto The Protecting Veil is a deeply spiritual instrumental piece that puts the life and work of the Virgin Mary to music. It was premiered at the BBC Proms in 1989 with cellist Steven Isserlis, for whom Tavener had written the concerto. At the time Tavener wrote the composition he was 45 years old and had already converted to Orthodox Christian faith whose mysticism appealed to him. In Tavener’s numerous vocal works mythical and spiritual topics play a major role. Since the 1980s the British composer mainly focussed on sacred choral music. One of the most important works of this creative period is Svyati, a composition for 12 voices and cello from 1995. The choir sings in ecclesiastical Slavonic, a traditional liturgical language that is partly still used in the Orthodox Church.

SWR2 New Talent is a promotion and support programme of the broadcasting coporation SWR aiming to help exceptional young talents to launch their career through concerts, studio productions and media presence for a period of three years. The cellist Lionel Martin has been the ‘SWR2 New Talent’ since 2021. In 2017 Anne-Sophie Mutter accepted Lionel Martin for her foundation of young, exceptional musicians. Since then he has repeatedly performed with her on stage and has been on tour together with her and her scholarship holders throughout Europe, North and South America – where he performed not only in big concert halls, but also for social projects in churches and old people’s homes.