Publisher says British composer John Tavener has died at age 69

LONDON – British composer John Tavener, whose austere choral and orchestral works reflected his religious journey from West to East, has died at the age of 69.

Tavener’s publisher, Chester Music, said he died Tuesday at his home in Child Okeford, southern England.

Born and trained in London, Tavener burst onto the public scene in 1968 with the help of The Beatles and is often remembered for his beautiful “Song for Athene” — reworked as “Songs of Angels” — that caught the public’s mood at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.

His wistful, elegant setting of William Blake’s poem “The Lamb” (1982) became a staple of Christmas carol services.