Tabula Rasa

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This seminal disc now almost seems like the manifesto for a whole new strain of minimalism that has found an enormously receptive audience. It represented a breakthrough for Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose music--like that of his European colleagues John Tavener and Henryk Górecki--pursues an austerely beautiful simplicity that suggests spiritual illumination. Fratres, given here in two versions, one for piano and violin and the other for 12 cellos, repeatedly intones a sequence resembling chant to convey a sensibility that seems at once archaic and beyond time. Violinist Gidon Kremer, for whom Pärt wrote the exquisitely contemplative and hypnotic title work, grasps the music's koan-like idiom, allowing an inner fullness to resonate through the most fragile, ethereal wisps of tone against the mysterious clangings of prepared piano. The tolling of the tubular bells in Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten is an emotionally charged lament, based on a simple minor descending scale, that introduces Pärt's fascination with what he calls "tintinnabulation": the literal and metaphorical sound of ringing bells. This recording is also famous for the acoustically warm presence produced by ECM's Manfred Eicher, which magnificently captures the mystical simplicity of Pärt's sound world. --Thomas May

Tracks:

Tabula Rasa: I. Ludus - Con Moto - Gidon Kremer/Tatjana Grindenko/Reinut Tepp
Tabula Rasa: II. Silentium - Senza Moto - Gidon Kremer/Tatjana Grindenko/Reinut Tepp
Company: Movt I - Kremerata Baltica
Company: Movt II - Kremerata Baltica
Company: Movt III - Kremerata Baltica
Company: Movt IV - Kremerata Baltica
Come In!: Movt I - Gidon Kremer/Tatjana Grindenko/Reinut Tepp
Come In!: Movt II - Gidon Kremer/Tatjana Grindenko/Reinut Tepp
Come In!: Movt III - Gidon Kremer/Tatjana Grindenko/Reinut Tepp
Come In!: Movt IV - Gidon Kremer/Tatjana Grindenko/Reinut Tepp
Come In!: Movt V - Gidon Kremer/Tatjana Grindenko/Reinut Tepp
Come In!: Movt VI - Gidon Kremer/Tatjana Grindenko/Reinut Tepp
Darf Ich... - Gidon Kremer/Andrei Pushkarev

Amazon.com

Violinist Gidon Kremer and his ensemble, Kremerata Baltica, have tackled repertoire that ranges from Baroque to contemporary, but they seem to shine on the newer stuff. The group has an obvious ear for the music of the Baltic region, and Kremer's icy precision and passionate playing are tailor-made for the modern masters. On Silencio, Kremer delivers another stunning recording, this one featuring meditative music by a trio of composing mavericks: Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass, and Vladimir Martynov. Martynov may be the least-known of the three, but his work marks the disc's highlight composition, "Come In!" The moving piece for violin and orchestra--which features plenty of Romantic, lyrical playing (and the occasional sound of a door knocking)--is mystical but also tender and sweet. A string orchestra arrangement of Glass's String Quartet No. 2 ("Company") is almost as intense as the original played by Kronos. A short Pärt world premiere rounds out this disc: "Darf Ich" is a glorious piece for violin and orchestra reminiscent of Pärt's sublime "Summa". This is a gorgeous disc you'll get lost in; another gem from Kremer. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

"Come In" -- Must Listening.......2005-01-26

I'm a fan of Glass and Part, but I have to confess that their music on this CD more or less went in one ear and out the other. That's not a bad thing, because I like their work and listen to plenty of it. I just, wasn't bowled over, is all.

(I was using the CD as background music; their works here may grow on me in time.)

I had to rush here to recommend this CD, though, because I was so moved by Vladimir Martynov's "Come In."

At first I was put off by it, because I had purchased the CD exactly because I am fans of Glass and Part, and I expected the CD to consist of music in their minimalist style.

Martynov's "Come In" struck me, at first, as being more Romantic, and I just wasn't sure what to make of it.

Soon, though, I completely forgot about style, and about the (annoying) work-related task I was attempting to perform while listening to this CD. "Come In" seduced me like I haven't been seduced by a piece of new music in a long time. I was close to tears in parts.

I lack a sophisticated vocabulary to discuss classical music, but I can tell you that "Come In" struck me as sweet and beautiful, but also complex, deep, and never cloying. I did feel that I was being invited into a numinous experience.

Later, when I read the liner notes, I was even more moved. What Martynov said about his piece and his goals, the ideas and sensations he wished to convey and evoke, worked perfectly for me.

Needless to say with Kremer, the musicianship is first rate.

Easy & not-easy, but all profound, moving & rewarding.......2001-07-02

A fascinating combination of "modern" works to appreciate on this disc. All quite different, powerful juxtaposition of styles and moods. Tabula Rasa, the "lead-off" composition by Arvo Part, packs stunning intensity of a dark, melancholy sort in Part's minimalist, yet melodic vein. Next is Glass's "Company" for string orchestra. Pardon my simple mind, but I really do enjoy the regular/irregular pulsing, throbbing undercurrent of his works. The style is highly characteristic, yet, within that signature framework, he pulls in just enough complexity and variation in my opinion to make this highly worthwhile fare. Then, "Come In" by Martynov. What can I say, this is easy listening, but a real deep "easy" at that. Positively brought a lump to my throat and then some! Tell you the truth, I was so drained after these first three pieces, that I had to take a break before the final item, Darf Ich by Part. Listen again & again when you're in a bit of a heavy mood that deserves musical concordance. The performance/performers work these treasures to the hilt. I'd pare my CD collection from 1200 down to 12, and "Silencio" would remain.

A minimalist delight........2001-02-17

First of all, why silence? And how?

After all, one has to agree with John Cage when he points out that "There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot."

What then does it mean to call an album "Silencio"?

I think what it means is that the music in this album tries not to communicate something to its listener, but rather aims at helping one communicate with one's Self. This lack of intentional outward interaction, and the parallel promotion of introspection, I think, is intended to be thought of as a silence. Indeed, the emotional landscape it allows us to observe is, perhaps, the closest thing to silence, for it is a still and timeless picture, void of any matter, absorbed in a heartbeat alone.

Technically this album is superb, with Gidon Kremer and his disciples proving to be, as always, up to the highest of expectations. The prepared piano in Arvo Pärt's Tabula Rasa deserves praise as well - I have never heard the piano sound so beautiful, evocative and majestic at once. As for Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass and Vladimir Martynov, they are, of course, a handsome lot to be found combined in one CD, with 68 minutes of music at a reasonable price by Nonesuch's standards. The nature of these composers, however, is what makes this album a product that not everyone is likely to care for. I feel quite certain that anyone who likes minimalist music - in the style of Gorecki or Kancheli, for instance - will find this album enticing. On the contrary, I recommend those who believe simplicity to be a symptom of stupidity to spend their money in a different way, for the music in this album is indeed a minimalist delight.

If You Can't Say Anything Nice, Silencio.......2000-12-19

Musically the Twentieth Century is like the month of March. It came in like a lion, with monumental orchestral masterpieces like the Mahler Symphonies, the Strauss Tone Poems, and Stravinsky's ballet scores. But as the artistic, political, and economic climate changed, the monumental became increasingly rare. Most living composers today will never have a performance of one of their works by a major professional symphony orchestra. And so, for the most part, the Twentieth Century goes out like a lamb, with the intimate replacing the enormous. And Gidon Kremer, with his string ensemble the Kremerata Baltica, reflects this aesthetic change in his new CD Silencio. Certainly one wouldn't expect heart-on-your-sleeve emotion and drama from a CD with this title, and there is none to be had here. I have to totally disagree with the writer who says this recording is full of drama--I found scarcely any at all. This CD contains four pieces; of them, only the first, Arvo Part's Tabula Rasa even attempts an aesthetic involving drama, and that only in the first movement. The title of this piece comes from the term for the pure, naive and innocent mind before it receives the impressions gained from experience, and this idea pervades the entire CD. In place of traditional liner notes with information about the composers and their works, we are given obtuse and somewhat ominous quotations by the performers and composers, such as the following from Kremer himself: "Our despair: a drop in an ocean. Death--the final bill, in which the challenge turns into a phantom. Ambitions, hopes, enchantment. All this finds its peace there in the world beyond. Words irritate. Gestures mislead. Emotions dissolve. Only sounds speak a language that might be understood. If one opens the heart, would there be someone receptive enough? But who is listening? Who is able to feel it? Often I do ask myself, where does a heartbeat identical to mine exist? And the attempt of an answer is: out there, on the other end of my own sound."

In addition to "Tabula Rasa", there is another work by the Estonian composer Part, "Darf Ich" (or "May I"), "Company" by Philip Glass in an arrangement for string orchestra, and "Come In" a piece commissioned by Kremer from the little known Russian composer Vladimir Martynov. But aside from the opening Part work, I find that the intimate tone of the CD is too consistently bland for my taste. There are better quiet works out there, that reach into a deeper place beyond the mere superficiality of Martynov's lengthy but unengaging "Come In". Although he began his career in an interesting way, moving from early efforts involving serialism, to electronics, to the composition of a religious Russian rock-opera, at some point he embraced the ideas of "holy minimalism" and from my perspective seems to have eliminated all traces of interest in his work. It is difficult to appreciate a composer who comes out of the soviet oppression with the attitude Martynov expressed when discussing another of his works, "I was once told that man touches the truth twice. The first time is the first cry from a newborn baby's lips and the last is the death rattle. Everytthing between is untruth to a greater or lesser extent. So why not try to go all the way from the death rattle to the first cry, from the last opus to the first? But that might lead us to see Stalin standing on the Mausoleum as innocent and lofty as a swallow, and a swallow gulping a mosquito in flight would seem no less nightmarish and monstrous than Stalin, who destroyed millions of lives. All this is terribly confusing and it is much better to forget all the conundrums and sink into sweet melancholy. And let this melancholy last as long as possible; I suppose that's the only answer to the question of reality." In the work presented here, Martynov sinks into sweet melancholy again, which is pretty enough, but to my ear as bland as wallpaper. For the three or four minutes any single movement lasts it is fine, but the entire 6 movement work lasting 27 minutes is all exactly the same, without any contrast. Why would a composer in this century be composing music like this? Where is the artistry, the vision, the craftsmanship? All of the great Romantic composers, from Beethoven to Mahler, did this same thing long ago and so very much better. And of the Glass piece presented here, the less said the better. Even the fabulous performance by the Kremerata Baltica, surely one of the finest string orchestras around, cannot raise my interest in a piece (written as incidental music to a Beckett play) which simply rehashes the same Glass harmonic and rhythmic formulas he has been working on for 40 years now. As I listen to this, I can't help but think that Glass forgot to write the melody. To be honest, I find the piece so lacking in any artistic merit that I will not even play an excerpt for you. I hate to be a Grinch about this, but this is a CD that I hope I don't find in my stocking this Christmas. I know it is not popular here at Amazon to be critical of the CDs one reviews, but there is so much better music out there, even with this same introspective aesthetic, that I cannot recommend this at all except as a superb performance of the Part Tabula Rasa, which has in fact been recorded by Kremer before. It's not that I dislike contemporary music, or minimalism, or intimate introspective music; quite the opposite--it's that I find these pieces very poorly done, and extremely disappointing examples of their ilk.

Silencio is Superb!.......2000-11-06

Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica deliver another excellent recording in "Silencio", on the Nonesuch label. Featuring music of three twentieth century composers, this CD contains performances which are moving and dramatic.

Arvo Part's "Tabula Rasa" gets its most spacious recording yet on disc. The first movement, "Ludus", is performed with long pauses of silence between the dramatic utterances of strings and prepared piano. At 10:21, this is longer than any of the other three performances I own of this piece. The second movement, "Silentium", times at 18:24, including about a half-minute of recorded silence at the end of the movement. This is over five minutes longer than Neeme Jarvi's fine recording for Deutsche Grammophon. But length alone is not the measure of the caliber of this performance - orchestra and soloists give wonderful, broad performances, letting this great work breathe calmly and fully.

The four short movements of "Company" by Philip Glass are rich with color and rhythmic energy. Fans of Richard Einhorn's "Voices of Light" will enjoy this brief work.

"Come In" by Vladimir Martynov was a revelation. I found a single reference to this composer on the web - it mentioned stylistic similarities with Arvo Part and an output of predominantly sacred vocal music. "Come In" is a meditation on a hymn-like tune; the tune is restated in each of the six movements with slight changes in structure. Each restatement is followed by a variation for two violin soloists. The music is sweet, romantic without becoming sickening, and gives the effect of joyful anticipation frozen in sound. You will not want this piece to end, and when it does you will have to supply the closure. Whether or not the door is opened will be for you to decide.

The program concludes with a premiere recording of "Darf ich..." by Arvo Part. It shares harmonic similarities with "Kanon Pokajanen" and is once again superbly performed by Kremer and the Kremerata.

Tracks:

Fratres
Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten
Fratres
Tabula Rasa

Amazon.com essential recording

This seminal disc now almost seems like the manifesto for a whole new strain of minimalism that has found an enormously receptive audience. It represented a breakthrough for Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose music--like that of his European colleagues John Tavener and Henryk Górecki--pursues an austerely beautiful simplicity that suggests spiritual illumination. Fratres, given here in two versions, one for piano and violin and the other for 12 cellos, repeatedly intones a sequence resembling chant to convey a sensibility that seems at once archaic and beyond time. Violinist Gidon Kremer, for whom Pärt wrote the exquisitely contemplative and hypnotic title work, grasps the music's koan-like idiom, allowing an inner fullness to resonate through the most fragile, ethereal wisps of tone against the mysterious clangings of prepared piano. The tolling of the tubular bells in Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten is an emotionally charged lament, based on a simple minor descending scale, that introduces Pärt's fascination with what he calls "tintinnabulation": the literal and metaphorical sound of ringing bells. This recording is also famous for the acoustically warm presence produced by ECM's Manfred Eicher, which magnificently captures the mystical simplicity of Pärt's sound world. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

music so good you'll cry.......2007-04-21

I first heard one of the songs playing in a Starbucks and had to ask them what it was... I couldn't hear it very well, but I knew I needed to hear more. After I got home and listened to the previews on Amazon, I was hooked.

There is so much depth and sweetness to this music. It has literally brought me to tears. If you're looking for an album of chamber music that truely goes beyond the normal lulling sound and into the realm of true artistic expression, this is one to own. It is one of the prizes of my collection.

This is one for everybody.......2006-08-30

I'm not completely dug on classical and contemporanean music, ECM stuff included. Lygeti, Xenakis they make me sense, all along american minimalists like Reich or Cage. Electro-acustic is more ear-friendly for me (Ferrari, Parmegiani) but... All this speech just to say that thsi is one ECM record I own - the 1977's Tabula Rasa. The great Gidon Kramer (check out "Silence" from Nonesuch who has another version of tabula rasa) is here with all his magic, even the world-piano-star K. Jarrett plays piano, and everything makes sense. The music is so cold and complex, ethernal yet listenable for the common of mortals. Give a try, i did and i'm inloved with.

should be accepted by any rational person as strong evidence for God's existence........2006-06-20

arguably, it was THIS music by THIS composer that Manfred Eicher's label, ECM, was meant for. If an album was released on ECM, no doubt it sounds lovely, but when purpose is paired so perfectly with sound, even ECM attains something angelic and beyond. Arvo Part's non-modulating approach to harmony, great care and attention with so few notes, and the reverent spirit that carries through his efforts encompasses a catalogue of works so great and beautiful I'm not sure any 20th century composer can remotely compare.

This ECM disc is possibly the best of all. _Tabula Rasa_, first and foremost, is a masterpiece. A violin concerto of sorts, it flows through static haze and torrid whorls, with ghostly sounds of strings punctuated by the bell- and chime-like intonations on sounds of prepared piano. Divine and without momentum, this piece forever hovers between being and nothing. _Fratres_, performed in two versions here (for violin and piano, and for 12 cellos), features a chorale-like figure recurring over an ethereal drone. Radiant and simple, not a sound is out of place. the _Cantus_ is based on rich chords arranged in a variety of rhythmic patterns, so beautiful one kind of wishes it would last longer.

this is an excellent introduction to one of the best composers of the 20th century. i would really encourage you to hear this.

Fill in your blank slate with some innovative music..........2006-01-03

This CD started it all. In 1984 it introduced the then little known Arvo Pärt to a new western audience. Pärt had long before made his "tinntinnabulation" discovery (around 1976). Before this pivotal epiphany, the majority of Pärt's work fell into the serialist category. His early work shows all of the grinding atonal experimentation of the 1950s. It thus lies in stark contrast to his later work as presented on this CD (he shares this same evolutionary path with the Polish composer Górecki).

"Tabula Rasa" introduced a new music and a new style to the west. This music doesn't follow traditional harmonic or melodic forms. Listening to Pärt differs from listening to Sibelius or Stravinski. In Pärt, environment and setting are everything. The melodies and harmonies function to set a mood rather than to follow a path or a harmonic progression leading to an ultimate resolution. Subsequently, one experiences rather than listens to Pärt's work. The notes merely provide the structure. In this way Pärt's pieces represent frameworks for music (which probably explains, as related in the CD booklet, why the members of one orchestra asked "where is the music" upon seeing the score for "Tabula Rasa"). So Pärt not only presents beautiful and moving music but also helps listeners conceive of it in new ways.

The tracks on this CD provide the perfect showcase for Pärt's work. Beginners should start here. Two versions of the meditative "Fratres" appear, but each utilize such different arrangements that they sound like two separate works. "Cantus" remains one of Pärt's most moving compositions. It sounds like a slowly exploding wall of catharsis. The nearly half hour "Tabula Rasa" features incredible violin work and prepared piano (a la Cage). Overall, the mood of each piece on this CD veers strongly toward the meditative, mystical, and ethereal. As such it serves as a great introduction to the "late" Pärt and as a showcase of incredible musicianship.

Pärt remains more of a phenomenon on CD than in the concert hall. The lush rich sound of this CD, which will have your cochleas swimming, provides some evidence as to why. Not only that, the amount of quietude and silence utilized by Pärt must create difficulties for orchestra hall performance. Pärt's music, intimate and close, probably plays best in seclusion or in small venues. For the maximum experience, put on some headphones and listen to this CD. In this way listeners can experience all the subtle harmonics and nuances that make up the music of Arvo Pärt.

Modern classical music that is beautiful.......2005-10-23

Too many modern classical composers have sacrificed beauty for virtuosity and expermintality. Not so Part. This Baltic composer writes melodic music of outstanding lyricism and profound beauty. He has succesfully managed to write in the classical format while not sounding like a repetition of the great artists of yore. The music is melancolic, but not tragic, pensive but not unpenetratable. I had the great honour to listen to a live perfomance of works by Part by the Hilliard Ensamble at the Royal Festival Hall in London, UK. It was one of the few times I know of that the audience gave a standing ovation, and just did not want to stop. Mr Part was present and he almost started crying.
Part has contributed music to films as diverse as Les Amants du Pont-Neuf and Fahrenheit 9/11.

Average customer rating:

Old World Sound to Calm the Senses
NOT OF THIS WORLD
Spare brilliance
Magnificat: Magnificent!
If you only buy one Pärt CD, buy this one

Arvo Pärt Sanctuary

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Magnificats | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Requiems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Alina - Arvo Part
Lamentate
Silencio
Tabula Rasa
Arvo Pärt: De Profundis

ASIN: B000002SRI
Release Date: 1998-02-17

Tracks:

Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten
Summa
The Beatitudes - Stephen Cleobury
Fratres (Version VI) - The London Philharmonic
Festina Lente
Magnificat - Stephen Cleobury
De profundis - Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tabula Rasa: Silentium

Customer Reviews:

Old World Sound to Calm the Senses.......2007-01-03

Beautiful, pure, and often heavenly are my select words to describe this CD.

NOT OF THIS WORLD.......2004-08-31

Tabula Rasa: Silentium : This music is not of this world. I worship/pray in silence while driving with this music on with a palm facing the windshield. The haunting, surreal background...the two main violins mournfully cries out aloud...yet so beautiful...my heart cries with them.

Spare brilliance.......2003-01-08

Spending a lot of words describing Pärt's music seems like defeating the purpose. It is transcendent, haunting, solemn, quiet, and all the other things the other reviewers say. I view it, stylistically, as somewhere between the minimalism of Glass et al, and the ambient textures of Steve Roach -- if that description makes any sense. I find myself a little more at home with his instrumental pieces than his choral work, but that's just personal preference.

This is a good first Pärt CD -- then you can move on to other works, especially his Te Deum.

Magnificat: Magnificent!.......2002-08-05

I realize the title of this review is pretty silly, but I had to think of something.
I have always enjoyed classical music, but not nearly as much as other genres... that is until a friend of mine gave me SANCTUARY. I listen to it all the time now. The genius of Arvo Part's music is that although it is quite somber, it is very beautiful. I think that if you don't like classical music now, you will once you listen to Arvo Part. My favourite piece is Magnificat, hence the title.

If you only buy one Pärt CD, buy this one.......2002-02-21

This exquisite recording is an "Arvo Pärt Sampler" that provides a great introduction to this wonderful composer. I bought it because it contains his two best-known short choral works, the Beatitudes and the Magnificat. The performances by the choir of King's College Cambridge are transcendent, as usual; it is very difficult to achieve the serenity of sound needed to communicate Pärt's music, but King's is perfect for it. The instrumental works are samples of Pärt's greatest hits including an especially heart-rending performance of the Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.

Whether or not you enjoy the music of Arvo Pärt is partially a matter of temperament. Pärt is to music what contemplative spirituality is to prayer. To most of us, prayer involves talking to God; but to the contemplative, prayer means listening in receptive silence. Pärt is deeply contemplative, and his music speaks from this inner stillness, suspended in time. If you long for this inner stillness and peace, you will love Pärt; if not, his music will probably bore you. Silence plays an important part in his music. In the words of Arvo Pärt, "The most important things that happen between people who are very close to each other are not stated, are not even possible to express. One doesn't need to and shouldn't say anything." When you listen to Pärt, don't expect action, don't expect something to "happen." Just give yourself to the music and don't "do" anything - let God do it.

The Role of Smith
Average customer rating:

Awesome stuff

The Role of Smith
Tabula Rasa
Manufacturer: A-F Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008W2S8
Release Date: 2003-06-03

Tracks:

Dead Air
Keith Song
Just Guns and...
Are We in Our Nations Capitol?
There Is a Fine Line Between Genius and Insanity
Nashville
Jumping the Shark
Eating Contest
More Words Than Not
How Old Are You...?
If You Kill Me, I'll Never Know

Album Description

In a time when underground music has been watered down & spoon fed to the masses by music industry chic-seekers, Tabula Rasa thrust forth their cross-fertilization of post-punk, math rock & indie to put charged up underground rock music back where it belongs -- Into the hands of the fans who can distinguish the true believers from the impostors. Crafting energetic, creative, uncompromising music for the rock nonconformists. Produced by J. Robbins of Jawbox. A-f Records. Digipak. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome stuff.......2003-11-05

The first time I listened to this cd I was like wow, this is different. Then I listened to it again and couldn't get over how much it really rocks. The guitar work is insane. There is nothing simple about what these guys play. The drumming and the bass lines are really strong too, and the vocals don't dissapoint by any means. If you're a fan of Indie/Punk, or if you're just sick and tired of hearing bands on the radio that all sound the same you should definatly check these guys out. I'm also proud to say that these guys are from my hometown, Pittsburgh Pa.

Average customer rating:

Not the best performances, but still a pretty good collection
A Written and Sound Portrait of One of Our Most Important Composers

Arvo Pärt: A Portrait

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Magnificats | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Passions | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Arvo Pärt - A Tribute
Lamentate
Alina - Arvo Part
Arvo Pärt: Passio
Arvo Part: 24 Preludes for a Fugue

ASIN: B00093O6OY
Release Date: 2005-06-21

Customer Reviews:

Not the best performances, but still a pretty good collection.......2007-04-20

Naxos has never provided the best performances of the music of Arvo Part--the long line of ECM recordings were made under the composer's supervision and thus may be seen as definitive--but the collection ARVO PART: A PORTRAIT is a nice effort indeed. Issued in 2005, the year of the Estonian composer's 70th birthday, this package features selections from nearly his entire career over two discs, in recordings drawn from the Naxos, BIS, and Nimbus labels, and also contains a 78-page booklet with Nick Kimberley's essay "Arvo Part: A Musical Journey".

Arvo Part came to worldwide attention through the minimalistic and overtly spiritual music he began composing in the mid-1970s, but ARVO PART: A Portrait features some music from his early career as well. Part was something of an enfant terrible in the Soviet music world, and in the 1960s he infuriated the socialist realist musical establishment by producing dodecaphonic and collage works through the 1960s. From this era we get the second movement of the Symphony No. 1, the "Collage ueber B-A-C-H", and the cello concerto "Pro et Contra". One does regret, however, that his important piece "Credo", discussed at some length in Kimberley's piece, is not featured here, but perhaps Naxos could not find a recording that could be licensed for inclusion here.

The bulk of the collection, however, is dedicated to Part's "holy minimalism" output, a style which he calls "tintinnabuli" for its bell-like tones. Two selections from his hour-long masterpiece "Passio" are included here, one begin four minutes long and the other twelve. Of the "Berliner Messe" we have the Kyrie and Credo, and the other late pieces here are included full-length.

"Fur Alina", the exceedingly simple piano piece he wrote in 1976, breaking a silence of nearly a decade, is featured here in its scored form in performance by Alexei Lubimov. The ECM recording of this piece is a much longer improvisation by Alexander Malter, so this Naxos collection (or the BIS disc the selection was drawn from) is a good way to hear the piece at its most simple.

Over the last decade or so, Part has began reconciling his tintinnabuli style to the more fiery spirit of his youth. However, none of those pieces, such as "Como cieva sedienta" are represented here, which is regrettable.

While the Naxos performances of Part's music are not the best available, only the Naxos recording of "Tabula Rasa" by the Ulster Orchestra and Takuo Yuasa is outright unlistenable. The rest are acceptable, and this collection makes a more more economical introduction to Part's career than the many full-price ECM discs. And for established Part fans, the included essay by Nick Kimberley is interesting reading, especially when the only other major English-language coverage of Part, Paul Hillier's Arvo Part (Oxford Studies of Composers), is difficult to find.

A Written and Sound Portrait of One of Our Most Important Composers.......2005-07-13

"Contemporary classical music which genuinely touches people is rare, but the rapt, contemplative music of Arvo Pärt communicates readily, and without pandering to the demands of a mass audience." -- Nick Kimberley

"It is enough when a single note is beautifully played." -- Arvo Pärt

These two comments shed light on Arvo Pärt, both the music and the man. An intensely private man who came of age in repressive Stalinist Soviet Estonia but who always maintained his stalwart religious beliefs, against all fashion, and who, though he started out as an avant-gardist, became the prophet of what has been called 'the new simplicity,' Arvo Pärt is perhaps the most beloved composer of classical music in the world. His music is known by people who have almost no interest otherwise in classical music, largely because of the effect it has on even the casual listener, as reflected in Nick Kimberley's comment above. It also has devoted followers among the musical cognoscenti. His piece 'Fratres,' in its myriad forms, is his most widely performed work, but it is probably his ecstatic 'Passio' that has created the most devoted following, particularly following its first recording by the Hilliard Ensemble on the ECM label.

This release has two CDs chockfull of unfailingly beautiful performances of Pärt's music, generally in complete movements taken from releases by Naxos and other labels. Such disparate works as his spare piano piece, 'Für Alina,' movements of his Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3, the 'Berliner Messe,' the 'Magnificat,' 'Collage über B-A-C-H,' 'Spiegel im Spiegel,' and 'Triodion,' are represented here. Two versions of 'Fratres' are included, one for cello and piano, the other for percussion and strings. His cello and orchestra work, 'Pro et Contra,' is performed by Frans Helmerson and the Bamberg Symphony under Neeme Järvi. Excerpts from 'Passio' ('Passion According to the Gospel of St. John') from the recording by Antony Pitts, Pärt expert and a composer in his own right, and his choral group Tonus Peregrinus are particularly haunting. Celebrated organist Kevin Bowyer is heard playing Pärt's 'Annum per annum.'

The illuminating accompanying essay, 70 pages long, is by Nick Kimberley, a noted British arts critic. All of this is in a glossy booklet enclosed in a cardboard box, typical of Naxos's classy presentation of both recorded music and booklet notes.

This release is for all those who are already devotees of Pärt's music and for those who are just coming to admire his music. The budget price makes it all the more attractive.

2 CDs TT=164mins

Scott Morrison

Average customer rating:

Arvo Pärt: Fratres, etc.

Manufacturer: Class. for Pleas. Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa; Symphony No. 3; Collage
Arvo Pärt: Passio
Arvo Pärt: Berliner Messe; Magnificat; Summa
Alina - Arvo Part
Arvo Part: Te Deum / Kaljuste, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

ASIN: B00006YX7L
Release Date: 2004-03-02

Tracks:

Frates (1980 Version) (For Violin And Piano)
Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten (For String Orchestra And Bell)
Summa (For Sting Orchestra)
Spiegel Im Spiegel (For Violin And Piano)
Festina Lente (For String Orchestra And Harp)
Ludus (With Movement)
Silentium (Without Movement)

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Tabula Rasa
Bela Fleck , Bhatt , and Chen
Manufacturer: Water Lily Acoustics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

India | India & Pakistan | International | Styles | Music

General | India & Pakistan | International | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00006F87G
Release Date: 2002-07-23

Average customer rating:

Best cross-cultural musical merging of all-time?
Tabula Rasa
More Amazing Music from Bela
different but great
Holy Cow!

Tabula Rasa
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt With Bela Fleck and Jie Bing Chen
Manufacturer: Water Lily Acoustics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

China | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music

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Bourbon & Rosewater
A Meeting by the River
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Gathering Rain Clouds

ASIN: B000002VYK
Release Date: 1996-07-02

Tracks:

Carukesi
Emperor's Mare
Radha Krsna Lila
John Hardy
Tabula Rasa
Geocentricity
The Way of Love
Earl in Shanghai
Water Gardens
The Jade Princess
The Dancing Girl

Customer Reviews:

Best cross-cultural musical merging of all-time?.......2005-09-17

It's no rare event these days when great musicians from opposite sides of the planet come together in a musical merging project. The "West Meets East" concept is not new; it's been going on since Debussy heard Balinese gamelan, since Bartok recorded Morrocan "Chleuh", since Reich studied drumming in Africa. And in the modern age of studio recordings, it is certainly not a new phenomenon -- just ask the Beatles, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John MacLaughlin, AfroCelt Sound System, Don Cherry, and even Ry Cooder.

This record sits easily with the aforementioned as a monumental cross-cultural musical merging. It is one of the finest available. I believe it even surpasses the legendary "Meeting By the River" of V.M. Bhatt and Ry Cooder.

In this record, Bhatt teams up with legendary Bluegrass banjo player Bela Fleck and erh-hu artist Jie-Bing Chen. Just as important, though in the background, are Ronu Majumdar on bansuri, Poovalur Srinivasan on mridangam, and Sangeeta Shankar on violin.

What sets this record apart from others is that it perfectly blends the various styles and instruments brought to the table without sacrificing the ethnicity and authenticity of any. And this I believe is the crucial asset in effect here -- because how often do these cross-cultural mergings turn into really a "Western" record with some exotic sounds? Usually, one party takes a backseat role to the rest.

Not so here. Each player adds their own unique element to the mix, and nothing is sacrificed. The end result is a truly unclassifiable genre of music of the utmost quality. No player is eschewing any part of their musical heritage to "fit" into the scope of the project: if you could fade out everything except Bhatt's mohan vina, you would be hearing excellent traditional-sounding Indian folk music. Tweak the faders to isolate Fleck, and you would hear bluegrass music with all its chromaticism, inflections, etc. Pick out Jie-Bing Chen's erh-hu, and you will most likely hear pentatonic scales straight out of the Far East. And yet, the end result is a perfectly-balanced amalgamation of the disparate styles that somehow sounds like these instruments have played in the same settings for years.

The best track on this record is "Earl in Shanghai," which illustrates this perfectly. When Chen begins the tune alone, the pentatonic melody sounds distinctively Asian. Then, Fleck enters, adding a Western chromaticism to the mix. When the track takes off with the added percussion, we are left with a real bluegrass foundation, with the same pentatonic melody in the top (with one added passing tone), all over a solidly Indian mridangam beat cycle. The overall result is of the utmost quality.

That being said, I believe this record surpasses even the legendary collaboration between Bhatt and Ry Cooder. This album is decisively more composed and rehearsed than the "Meeting By the River." While the Cooder/Bhatt meeting is undoubtedly great, there are several giveaway moments in the recording that show how quickly it was thrown together. It's really a jam session -- at times one person moves through a transition while another doesn't, the endings of the songs happen abruptly...it's a monumental record, no doubt, but this one is miles above it in terms of quality and professionalism.

Well, enough blathering on. For some of the most relaxing and beautiful world music you will ever hear, pick up this record. You will not be disappointed.

Tabula Rasa.......2005-09-11

It pleases me that every review for this album is 5 stars.
This is great music.

More Amazing Music from Bela.......2004-03-15

Bela Fleck has got to be one of the most talented musicians around, and this album shows some of that talent. It is in the way he can switch between styles. Especially considering his intstrument of choice is a banjo, something not usually considered too "mainstream". This album is beautiful. If you like Bela's other music, you'll love this one.

different but great.......2001-06-10

Tabula Rasa or "Clean Slate" is one of my favorite cds now that i have it. Earl in Shanghai is my favorite on this cd. If you really love Bela's music like me then get this for something different. The talent displayed on this cd is outstanding.

Holy Cow!.......1999-11-02

This cd here represents what the word miracle defines,three main musicians of all diffrent genres,the unusual sounds combine to create a melodic paradise that engages in eternal harmony and groovy rhythms,kept by percussionist Srinivas and Violin queen sangeetha shankar.Ronu does a great work too on the flute,but as we know the core roots of this albums is fleck and bhatt with cheing providing the finishing touch!

Average customer rating:

Confined in Skin and Bones

Manufacturer: Deconstruct Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000BWP336

Product Description

Track Listing: 1.Acquaintance 2.The Blue Revolution 3.Three Course Adolf 4.Earth To Eric 5.Leprosy(Civil War) 6.The Symphony Of The Spiders Web 7.Shadow Sunshine 8.Mask 9.Yesterday man 10.Ego

Average customer rating:

A Luxurious Sadness That Makes You Feel Alive
One of the most amazing instrumental albums ever
Best Recording in my Collection
Mandatory Listening
Workman Redefines Modern Guitar

Tabula Rasa
Lyle Workman
Manufacturer: infrared
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000GWBMYA
Release Date: 2000-06-16

Tracks:

Timbuktu
Here Comes the Cavalry
Splendid Outcast
Cowboy G
Coloratura
Inhale
The Great Race
Rising of The Mourning Son
Afterglow
Ithaca

Product Description

tabula rasa (tab-oo-lah rah-sah), a smoothed or blank tablet, a mind not yet influenced by outside impressions and experiences (Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary) Assuming the twenty-first century edition holds no definitions to the contrary, this is the perfect title for Lyle Workman's second solo outing, the long-awaited follow-up to Purple Passages released in 1995. A consummately skilled guitarist having risen from the ranks of 80's power-poppers Bourgeois Tagg, through studio and tour duties for (among others) Todd Rundgren, Jellyfish, Frank Black and currently Beck, tabula rasa also showcases further talents for composition and production that are seldom exploited in his work with other artists. While never losing sight of his rock roots, Workman's music can be diverse, challenging, occasionally complicated yet always melodic and emotional, the tunes imbued with a romantic flair that tugs at the heart. His brilliant guitar playing is always to the fore, and rightly so; every guitarist who thinks they know how to deliver a solo should hear The Rising Of The Mourning Son, and despair! Extra bonuses include a rare foray into keyboard-land; Jeff Babko supplies a lovely Rhodes solo in Splendid Outcast, recalling Max Middleton's work with Jeff Beck, followed by an extraordinary jazz-piano sequence from Lyle himself. Fellow-Californian guitar genius and Zappa alumnus Mike Keneally provides the album's only lyrics and vocal tracks on the fabulous Inhale, while former XTC guitarist Dave Gregory contributes a string arrangement to The Great Race - frantic and romantic in equal measure. Drumming superbly throughout is the inestimable Toss Panos - one of the few musicians capable of handling the mind-bending percussive requirements the music often demands. Extra sweeteners come courtesy of Dave Ristrim's pedal steel guitar and banjo.

Customer Reviews:

A Luxurious Sadness That Makes You Feel Alive.......2003-09-11

Much like Michael Hedges' Taproot, tabula rasa reveals LYLE WORKMAN as more of a composer than just another guitarist showing off his latest chops, although his considerable fretboard skills are certainly displayed throughout. But it is the musical compositions themselves that take center stage and the ten songs all seem to contain a common theme and emotional center. A sense of sweet sadness permeates most of the nine instrumental tunes and, save for one exception, the song titles offer little clue as to the source of this sadness.

That one exception, however, Rising Of The Mourning Son, might just provide the vital insight as to that source. Beginning with a subtle chord progression, it spirals upward evoking a spiritual strength and then, as the trumpet falls in, a sense of joy, until finally the music evolves into a swelling mantra of both acceptance and inspiration. The result is a memorable musical eulogy to one's father or perhaps to some other essential facet of a man's constitution. Whatever, a sense of resolution manifests itself by song's end.

The first two tracks of the CD, Timbuktu and Here Comes The Cavalry, are actually quite energetic, the former applying some frenetic guitar synths while the latter adds some old western banjo picking from Dave Ristrim. Here Comes The Cavalry ends with a somber keyboard fade-out that proves foreboding to the rest of the disc.

Might the cavalry have arrived too late?..

A highlight of tabula rasa is the next track, Splendid Outcast. Mixing in some tinkling electric piano riffs to a jazzy arrangement, Workman adds an unexpected twist to the end with a diabolically mad piano outro.

Mike Keneally offers vocals on one track, the made-for-college-radio number Inhale. A catchy pop-rock melody straight out of the Rundgren-XTC-Belew school of musical thought, the chorus asks the listener to "think of me when you inhale." Perhaps a warning not to take Life or its simple providing act of breath for granted? Again, the song takes quite a turn at the end.

Speaking of turns, The Great Race takes a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants arrangement to great heights propelled in part by Dave Gregory's vibrant string arrangement.

The remaining tracks on the CD contribute to the melancholic beauty of tabula rasa, from the lonely moonlight serenade of Cowboy G to the simple elegance of Coloratura.

The final track, Ithaca, is the acoustic brethren of Rising Of The Mourning Son, a quiet farewell to the listener.

Listening to tabula rasa brings to mind a passage from John Steinbeck's To A God Unknown:

Joseph lifted his head and sniffed the wind. "I can smell the salt," he said. "I shouldn't have brought you here, Elizabeth, to make you sad."

Elizabeth answers:

"But it's a good full sadness, dear. It's a luxurious sadness."

Allow yourself to sniff the salt and feel such emotion within the luxury of Lyle Workman's bittersweet guitar symphony.

toby thomas - February 2nd, 2001

One of the most amazing instrumental albums ever.......2001-08-22

There are two kinds of guitar players in the world: those who are guitarists first, and those who are musicians first. Mr Workman is a musician first, as this is not a "guitar album". What I mean to say is that Lyle doesn't allow himself to get sucked into all the guitar cliches which have been played over the last 30 years. Nor does he allow the limitations of the instrument to dictate what he plays. He simply writes and plays what he hears in his head and he just so happens to play the guitar and play it incredibly well.

What does this mean for us? Well, we get an amazingly diverse, eclectic, and downright gorgeous album that embraces us with it's warmth rather than attempting to blow us away with chops (although Workman posesses them in spades).

I'm a musician and this disc has gotten played at least once a day since I obtained it a few months ago. It's been quite a while since an album has had such a profound effect on me. What style is it? Nearly every style you can think of. What will this disc do to you? Grow on you like a close friend. Who should own it? Everyone who has a heart and a brain .

Best Recording in my Collection.......2000-12-28

Lyle has composed and recorded an uniformly terrific collection of songs on Tabula Rasa. I can't say enough about how good they are! This music is as close to perfect as I've heard. It is dynamic and heartfelt. The melodies are so unique, and the arrangements are so inventive, that you will hear something new on each listen. I've searched a long time for an artist that is this good. I totally recommend this cd to anyone who wants more out of a listening experience. Lyle has plenty to offer!

Mandatory Listening.......2000-12-22

If you're a guitar player looking for gratuitous chops and fret board pyrotechnics, then let me direct you to the "Shrapnel" CD catalog. However, if you're a guitar player looking for music with a panoramic scope and the ability to challenge and inspire you, this is the CD to have. Forget the fact that it's an instrumental guitar album and the fact that Lyle Workman is one of the most gifted and unique guitar players around. Workman's compositions, in and of themselves, stand on their own. As with all great music, this CD gets better with repeated listenings. Not only should this CD be mandatory listening for all guitar players, it should be mandatory listening for all music lovers in general. It doesn't get any better than this.

Workman Redefines Modern Guitar.......2000-11-29

In a day when the guitar has been abused from over-emphasis on the popular 'shredding' style of playing, Lyle Workman is one of the very few out there who has approached the instrument with a unique style that avoids the modern cliches. This is a beautiful, well-crafted record that continues to reveal its charms by degrees, listen after listen. Its yields new discoveries, and gets larger, each time I hear it. As someone who finds most contemporary music to be designed with a 'dumbed -down' aesthetic, I find 'Tabula Rasa' to be an elevated and superbly wrought piece of musical artistry.

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