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The protestors outside Westminster Cathedral came to demonstrate their outrage at the desecration of their church by, as one online antagonist put it, \u201cthe sound of heathen hymns in a Cathedral made Sacred by Christ\u2019s Presence.\u201d Holding placards and singing hymns, the small, stoic bunch surely knew their case was a lost cause. The sold-out crowd shuffled past them having waited in a queue that stretched around to adjacent streets. The buzz of anticipation was well-founded. They were here to listen to the world premiere of composer Sir John Tavener\u2019s The Beautiful Names<\/i> \u2013 a meditation on the 99 names of Allah performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra<\/a> and sung in impeccable Arabic by the BBC Symphony Chorus with tenor John Mark Ainsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n Composed by a famous convert to Orthodox Christianity, inspired by a Sufi sage, commissioned by the future head of the Church of England and performed in a Roman Catholic cathedral, The Beautiful Names is a testament to Tavener\u2019s confident spiritual universalism, his willingness to have his faith enriched by other traditions. The political impact of this exploration isn\u2019t lost on him. He hopes the piece will, \u201ccontribute a little to an inward healing of the appalling strife that permeates the modern world.\u201d For Tavener this is an act of devotion, of drawing close to God unashamedly, of turning to religious tradition for solace precisely at the time when religious practice is increasingly maligned and deemed anachronistic. The Beautiful Names<\/i> is a bold musical rebuff to the narrow-mindedness of fundamentalist bigots (Muslim and Christian) and secular fanatics (like Dawkins and Hitchens) alike. Neither would be too pleased with his accomplishment.<\/p>\n The Beautiful Names<\/i> is a challenging work. It doesn\u2019t easily fall on the ear and it doesn\u2019t immediately make the listener feel comfortable. It demands that we be involved, pay attention to each name as it is recited and to notice that no two names are the same in their musical quality. As Tavener himself points out, there is almost no repetition in the entire work. It is a contemporary piece that has a traditional sensibility: it requires patience and needs to be experienced at its own pace \u2013 slowly as it unfolds. \u201cThe Beautiful Names<\/i> came to me as a vision. I contemplated the meaning of each of the Names as well as the sacred sound of the Arabic, and the music appeared to me spontaneously, neither chaotic nor random,\u201d says Tavener.<\/p>\n The 99 names are divided into nine groups with the first eight being proceeded by the \u201cmagisterial cries of Allah.\u201d In the first part, for instance, each name is sung by the tenor \u2013 a robust performance by John Mark Ainsley \u2013 and echoed by half the choir, who are quickly followed by the other half. The meaning of each name is mirrored in the music, the result of a meditation that is precisely crafted.<\/p>\n Taken from the Qur\u2019an and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, the 99 names or attributes of God are a mainstay of Muslim devotion. They are committed to memory at an early age, chanted and sung. Scholars of classical Islam, like Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, wrote treatises exploring the spiritual power and significance of these attributes. They are a means to come to terms with the vast ineffability of the Divine. The names often appear together in the text as sets of opposites \u2013 as ying-yang pairings: Al-Muhyi<\/i>, The Giver of Life is followed by Al Mumit<\/i>, The Taker of Life. God is at once Al-Tawwab<\/i>, The Ever Relenting and Al-Muntaqim<\/i>, The Avenger. <\/p>\n Tavener beautifully captures this sacred poetry. Al-Ghaffar<\/i> (He who is full of forgiveness) is sung in a plaintive tone, announced with gentleness by the tenor, echoed sweetly by the choir. It is followed by Al-Qahhar<\/i> (The Dominator), sung with intensity and force, the sound of the brass darkly rising to meet the voices of the choir. Al-Adl<\/i> (The Just) is announced with categorical force, a vocal punctuation. It is followed by a soft, breathy Al-Latif<\/i> (The Very Subtle) that stretches until it becomes almost inaudible. The singers proclaim Al-Dhahir<\/i> (The Manifest). Yet Al-Batin<\/i> (The Hidden) is concealed in the music, buried among overlapping voices. At times the choir falls into whispered entreaties, faint murmurs of either awe or humility. The Native American pow-wow drum is struck to announce each name.<\/p>\n Listening to The Beautiful Names<\/i>, I was reminded of the dhikr<\/i> gatherings held at the dergah of the Halveti-Jerrahi Sufi order in Istanbul\u2019s working class Karagumruk district where the congregation\u2019s singing and rhythmic repetition of prayers is at once disciplined, meditative and rapturous. I could hear in the steady, triumphant chanting of \u201cAllah, Allah\u201d by the BBC chorus, the controlled ecstasy of the dervishes as their ritual of divine remembrance reached its crescendo. The Beautiful Names<\/i> is indeed more prayer than performance.<\/p>\n