“John Tavener is a gentle sort of chap … but his latest choral work, to be premiered at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday, seems to have stirred up a hornets’ nest of angry Catholics.
“The work, The Beautiful Names, is a reflection on the 99 names for Allah and its production at the cathedral – a venue suggested by Prince Charles, who commissioned the work – has caused outrage among those of the faithful who think the building is being taken over by Islamists. One letter writer, Daphne McLeod, has spluttered about the cathedral being desecrated and honouring a false god.”
Indeed, in her letter to the Catholic Herald Ms McLeod demands: “Can we be told what arrangements have been made to reconsecrate our Cathedral to the Precious Blood of Our Blessed Lord after this defilement?”
See also Daily Telegraph, 15 June 2007 and Sunday Telegraph, 9 June 2007