Arvo Pärt: Cello Concerto "Pro et Contra"; Perpetuum Mobile; Symphonies Nos. 1-3

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The symphonies of Arvo Pärt will surprise anyone familiar with his contemplative, mature style. Pärt began life as a member of the Eastern European modern school, not so far removed from contemporaries such as Penderecki and Górecki. His three symphonies show his gradual renunciation of the more radical aspects of his musical syntax, a return to emotional directness, and the beginnings of that otherworldly quality that has become the outstanding feature of his later work. Not all listeners have traveled the path with him, some finding his recent music tedious and pretentious rather than spiritual, and these three relatively early symphonies really do add a welcome depth and roundness of profile to a composer who can all too easily seem one-dimensional. It's important to keep in mind that, unlike so many members of today's pseudospiritual school of composers (England's John Tavener being the prime example), Pärt is a real composer operating even in the most mystical musings. Järvi deserves real credit for calling attention to this fact in such a powerful way. --David Hurwitz

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:

Mesmerizing
Amazingly subtle variety
Sublime
Superb
Quite Simply.......

Pärt: Fratres

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Arvo Pärt: De Profundis
Tabula Rasa
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Alina - Arvo Part
Litany

ASIN: B000003D0Q
Release Date: 1995-04-18

Tracks:

Fratres For Strings And Percussion
Fratres For Violin, Strings And Percussion
Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten For Strings And One Bell
Fratres For Wind Octet And Percussion
Fratres For Eight Cellos
Summa For Strings
Fratres For String Quartet
Festina Lente For Strings And Harp Ad Libitum
Fratres For Cello And Piano

Customer Reviews:

Mesmerizing.......2006-05-11

OK, the people who made this album are officially crazy. Nine tracks, and six of them are different arrangements of Fratres! But it's a good crazy. The piece is fascinating and very evocative and draws you in. So, believe it or not, it works.

Once I had it playing while I was working on something else. Fifteen minutes after the CD ended I realized that there was no more music, although in some mysterious and enchanting way I continued to hear it in the air.

Amazingly subtle variety.......2001-12-19

Arvo Part is one of the only composers (if not the only one) I can think of where a CD containing six versions (albeit with different instrumentation) of the same piece is not boring or pretentious.

In addition to "Fratres" six times, we are treated to three other pieces as well. (I will comment more on them later.)

"Fratres" the obvious centerpiece of this album is a piece that roughly runs about 10 minutes and is incredibly rich in material as to score it for a plethora of different instruments is refreshing instead of frustrating. The various combinations offered here are for: 1. strings & percussion; 2. violin, strings & percussion; 3. wind octet & percussion; 4. eight cellos; 5. string quartet; 6. cello and piano.

I like the producers choice to put versions one and two next to each other (with the only difference being the "solo" violinist.) You can tell how much that one instrument's line really changes up the piece. Additionally that soloist uses a lot of pizzacato and it reinvigorates the piece. The version for wind octet is probably the most bizarre of all. It sounds like it uses strings and an organ. A testament both to Part's writing and the performers skills. The version for eight cellos is quite rich, showing once agains Part's compositional prowess, but also showing the great range of the cello (its my favorite instrument in the western orchestra.) The version for string quartet is the least compelling of bunch in my opinion. Not because Part can't write for quartet, but this piece just calls for more. The version for cello and piano is a nice way to close out the record, its probably my favorite version of all.

In addition to "Fratres" we are treated to "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten" which is beautiful...a fitting tribute to a brilliant composer (I'm told Part was quite fond of his music.) If this doesn't bring tears to your eyes...I don't know what will. This piece (more than "Fratres") is what people expect more from Part, the somber, yet joyous and ethereal tones with bells pealing. Its what the Eastern Orthodox describe as "joyful sadness."

"Summa" is just gorgeous, that's the best I can give you ;)

"Festina Lente" is a dramatic piece with swells of contrasting emotion that some movie maker will eventually steal turning Arvo Part onto millions of unsuspecting people.

Although this album is geared towards "Fratres," Part's "Silouan's Song" would have been a nice inclusion here as well.

I wouldn't recommend this as the starting spot for Part's music, but its still a fine listen. (To start with Part, I would recommend "Litany" "Miserere" or "Symphony no. 3")

Sublime.......2001-05-16

I just got this CD in search of the "Fratres for wind octet and percussion." I was braced for some trying repetition, even though the recording also includes my very first Part piece, "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten," and two others, "Summa" and "Festina Lente."

I was wrong. The 79-minute recording is sublime. I was constantly taken by surprise in the different realizations of the basic "Fratres" materials. The "Cantus," "Summa" and "Festina Lente" were added, not to break up the monotony, but to enhance the variety of the CD.

This CD will now join the precious few I listen to when life simply ceases to make sense and I am in desperate need for centering and grounding. (The recording of mystic minimalist works by the Chilingirian String Quartet is one of them. The achingly slow late Bernstein recording of the Barber "Adagio for Strings" is another.)

Superb.......2000-09-19

Composer Arvo Part is problably the most compelling composer of the last decade, and the "Fratres" count as one of his best works. They are not for every listener, though, as their slow pace and repetitive patterns (rendered even more repetitive by the fact that they appear ten times here in different versions) set a very particular mood. Werthen's interpretation emphasises the solemn and sometimes "marble cold" aspect of one of Part's most minimalist work (although he may not be considered a minimalist himself). Someone whishing to introduce himself to Part's compositions may prefer to try the ECM New Series recording of "Tabula Rasa", which also contains two "Fratres" (played by Keith Jarrett) along with the "Cantus in Memoriam", and another major work (the title work).

Quite Simply..............2000-01-15

The best recordings of the greatest piece of music EVER written period

Average customer rating:

After TABULA RASA, the next stop for fans of Part's "holy minimalism"
An excellent recording of sacred music
Pärt on song, yet somehow neglected
An icy wind of delicious sadness
Some gems

Arvo Pärt: Arbos

Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Miserere
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Orient & Occident
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Tabula Rasa

ASIN: B0000260TR
Release Date: 2000-01-25

Tracks:

Arbos
An den Wassern zu Babel
Pari Intervallo
De Profundis
Er sang vor langen Jahren
Summa
Arbos
Stabat Mater

Amazon.com essential recording

This CD features some great performances by Pärt specialists of a variety of shorter works. The clamorous Arbos for brass makes a startling opening for those who expect abstracted reverence; the lament, An den Wassern, has a startling ending that builds in intensity and volume only to break off midphrase. The static Pari Intervallo for organ leads into De Profundis, with its sense of slow but unstoppable movement (every note the same length, every measure the same rhythm). Es Sang has an unexpectedly lilting tune for solo alto, punctuated by string exclamations; Summa is a straightforward Pärt-style setting of the Credo. Arbos is repeated (this is oddly satisfying), and the disc closes with a masterpiece, the unbearably sad Stabat Mater for three voices and three strings. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

After TABULA RASA, the next stop for fans of Part's "holy minimalism".......2007-06-22

This ECM disc is an important document of the work of Estonian composer Arvo Part, containing as it does a number of important early pieces from the composer's "tintinnabuli" phase. If the earlier TABULA RASA on the same label is the traditional entry point into this style, ARBOS is where one should head next. And as with all ECM discs, the performers are Part's hand-picked men, giving a definitive sheen to the recordings.

Those who have heard the TABULA RASA disc are familiar with "Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten" for bell and strings. That's a mensuration canon, where various instrumental parts play a descending scale in different speeds, but it is peaceful and contemplative. On this disc "Arbos" for 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, and percussion (1977) takes the same form, but with very different instrumentation, a faster tempo, and louder dynamics it obtains a very different sound. Those who think of Part only as a creator of calm moods will be surprised indeed by this piece which turns the basics of tintinnabuli writing towards a troubled, though fairly static, surface. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart conducted by Dennis Russell Davies gives a confident performance.

The other pieces here are performed by the Hilliard Ensemble. "Pari Intervallo" for organ (1976) does with that instrument what "Fur Alina" did with piano, display the sound of tinntinabuli in the simplest possible form. It's notable for being Part's calmest piece for organ; others are somewhat monsters.

The title of "An den Wassern zu Babel" for trombone and chamber orchestra (1986) refers to the well-known psalm, but instead of merely setting the text Part communicates the soul of the Israelites' lament though anguished vocalizations. The a capella "Summa" (1986), on the other hand, sets the Nicene Creed without any emotional edge whatsoever, letting the listener soberly listen to its theological truths, a good counter to, say, the Glagolitic Mass of Janacek.

"De Profundis" for male chorus, percussion & organ (1980) sets Psalm 130. While the chorus and percussion range everywhere through the seven-minute length of the piece, the organ maintains a slow ostinato much like in "Pari Intervallo".

Though Part usually sets Biblical or liturgical texts, "Es sang vor langen Jahren" for counter-tenor or alto with violin & viola (1984) is a setting of a poem by Clemens Brentano talking of a human lover and a nightingale. The music is fairly standard Part, though. Perhaps a little too standard, for I have a hard time enjoying this piece, which doesn't do much to stand out.

"Stabat Mater" (1987) is at 25 minutes the longest piece on the disc, and one of Part's greatest achievements. A setting of the well-known hymn, it consists of alternating sections focusing either on chorus or the violin, here performed by the great Gidon Kremer. The text telling of the Theotokos sorrowfully gazing at Christ on the Cross is, as one can expect, set solemnly indeed, but surprising are the joyful dance-like cadences led by the violin that break in.

While most of the music here is mainstream tintinnabuli, "An den Wassern zu Babel" (1976) is unusual, coming after Part's creative silence but not squaring with his new style. It displays the composer's interest in medieval music, and is closer to his Symphony No. 3 of several years previously than to "Fur Alina" written the same year and the tintinnabuli pieces that have followed.

One regrets that ECM places "Arbos" here twice--the label is infamous for rarely putting together enough material to nicely fill a disc. That and the presence of the frankly dull "Es sang for langen Jahren" causes me to subtract a star. Nonetheless, those who have heard TABULA RASA and want to head deeper into Part's singular soundworld are highly encouraged to check out this disc which, as a fellow reviewer noted, is strangely neglected.

An excellent recording of sacred music.......2007-03-22

This was the first Arvo Pärt recording I ever heard. I think that was around 1993? I heard the Stabat Mater on a long drive from Melbourne to Ballarat, where I was performing in a midday concert of Renaissance and Baroque music as a part of an Arts festival held in that great country city.
I was alone in the car, listening to ABC Classic FM, as always, and I heard all of the Statbat Mater. I was captivated by this poignant, sublime and beautiful music. The three soloists, soprano, countertenor and tenor, sing the music with great style and beauty. The melodic lines seem to be weightless and float through each other in a very graceful way. The work is accompanied by a small group of string instruments.

I bought the recording when I got back to Melbourne and it has been a favourite of mine ever since. I also bought the Hilliard Ensemble's recording of the Pärt St. John Passion, commonly known as the Passio.

Lovers of the music of John Tavener and Henryk Gorecki, who haven't heard any of Pärt's music will be in for a very pleasant surprise.

Pärt on song, yet somehow neglected.......2006-06-09

This disc, one of many ECM recordings of the music of Arvo Pärt, has often seemed to be rather neglected compared to the higher profile Tabula Rasa or Alina (just compare the number of reader reviews of those discs to this one). Yet it's a disc that contains one of the composer's finest works (Stabat Mater) and a collection of shorter pieces that show him to great advantage.

The brass-and-percussion fanfare Arbos is a brief, rapid series of descending scalic melodies overlaid in a canonic structure similar to that of Pärt's justly famous Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten (the sound of bells is also prominent in both works). Though much more active on the surface--and louder--than the more famous work, Arbos has the same static overall feel. It is succeeded by An den Wassern zu Babel, a setting for organ and four voices of the Waters of Babylon passage from Psalm 137. Probably the most stylistically complex work on this disc (dating from 1976, it forms a transitional work between the Third Symphony and Pärt's mature minimalism), it is unusually dissonant for the composer, and bears the influence of Sibelus and the liturgical Stravinsky as well as Pärt's love of early music. Though dating from the same year, the organ elegy Pari Intervallo is a much simpler work, slowly rocking between consonances on its serene path.

The next three works all date from the early maturity of Pärt's minimalist style. The gently ritualistic De Profundis layers triadic harmonies in the upper voices over the organ and bass voice, Es sang von langen Jahren restricts development mostly to the alto range (alto singing with the accompaniment of violin and viola), and the four-voice Summa is perhaps one of the most characteristic examples of Pärt's tintinnabular harmonies and slow-moving minimalism.

After a second performance of Arbos, the disc closes with the main focus of the disc, the Stabat Mater for three voices and string trio. This work, written for the 50th anniversary of Alban Berg's death (like another late 20th century masterpiece, Alfred Schnittke's string trio), extends the procedures of the previous works over 25 minutes--adding passages of great dramatic intensity to contrast the more minimalist sections.

Though I am far from an uncritical admirer of Pärt's work, I think this disc is an excellent selection of his music. If ultimately I have returned to the Stabat Mater much more often than the shorter works which precede it, this is as much as tribute to its qualities as to any failings on the part of the other works on the disc.

An icy wind of delicious sadness .......2004-08-17

Arvo Part creates a world where bleakness becomes almost an indulgence, and upon the first hearing of Stabat Mater you'll feel an icy wind of delicious sadness blow over your eager and expectant frown. The solo organ piece Pari Intervallo (which can also be found on the purely organ album Trivium), is a study in restrained and sterile beauty, meaning that the piece (and most of the tintinnabuli pieces) doesn't crash and bellow and forcefully announce its intent, but whispers it in cold hintings. As for myself, I will not hint: buy this album now.

Some gems.......2002-02-10

All of this music was new to me before listening to this disc. I assume the performances are definitive, so the issue is, how attractive is the music itself? To me the winner on this CD is track 4, De Profundis, almost 7 minutes of austere beauty for organ, small choir and remarkably effective percussion (bell and gong). Track 6, the Summa (Credo) is nice, but the music seems to be content to create a somewhat mystical mood, and does not reflect the text (like many mass Credos do). The major work on the disc is track 8, the Stabat Mater, a very austere piece. It has not won me over yet.

Average customer rating:

Articulating sacredness
Oy vey intonation...
Part: Fratres
pretty neat CD, but...
More fun than...ummm...some other CDs!

Arvo Pärt: Fratres

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa; Symphony No. 3; Collage
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Pärt: Fratres
Miserere

ASIN: B0000014AG
Release Date: 1997-08-05

Tracks:

Fratres For Strings And Percussion
Fratres For Violin, Strings And Percussion
Festina Lente For Strings And Harp Ad Lib.
Fratres For String Quartet
Fratres For Cello And Piano
Summa For Strings
Fratres For Eight Cellos
Fratres For Wind Octet And Percussion
Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten For Strings And Bell

Customer Reviews:

Articulating sacredness.......2006-05-15

3 1/2 stars

The repetition throughout the 6 variations on this theme do become tiresome upon further listening to this album as a whole; however, the different implementations of this theme are justified due to the subtle changes found throughout that somehow make this minimalist theme flourish with progressive subtlties. The interspersed 3 remaining tracks do a great deal to enhance the album on the whole, breaking the pace from the profound, yet tiresome thematic experiment. Reforming my belief that modern classical music can still retain a sense of majesty, yet making a spiritual connection the likes no other composer has ventured, Avro Part is for anyone who enjoys the truely intense silence of sacredness, but this album should be an unlikely starting point.

Oy vey intonation..........2003-06-24

Well I like the idea of this CD, making a compilation of all the Fratres', but as usual with most naxos recordings, the string players are rather out of tune (especially the cellos). If you buy naxos recordings go for orchestral recordings and pianists (like the Shostakovich preludes and fugues is good). In the end though its probably worth the 7 bucks because the repetoire is so cool.

Part: Fratres.......2003-03-07

The Cantus track is a delight every time I listen.

pretty neat CD, but..........2003-01-11

It's neat of the Naxos folks to put together a compilation of all the known Fratreses (if that's the correct plural) together in one place. Each version is different enough so that a complete listen-through doesn't get tiring.

The other reviews of this CD have tended to focus on the beauty and spirituality of Pärt's music- I totally agree with those comments- he writes incredible music. The quality of the performances on this CD, however, is a little suspect at times. Particulary in the string quartet version of Fratres, there is some seriously shaky intonation... The chords don't exactly ring like they should in order to transcend space and time- qualities for which Pärt's music is known.

Overall, it's an acceptable CD, but it could have been better. I think there are some good recordings of the quartet version out there, but I'm not certain.

More fun than...ummm...some other CDs!.......2001-11-27

Part's music defies classification. We can call him Minimalist, yet much of his material expands beyond that genre--almost to the point of neo-romanticism, but not really. At first hearing, Part, is inoffensive and strangely luring. Soon the listener is sitting in front of the speaker asking for more and more an more...like an addictive and degrading drug.

Well, not really much like an addictive and degrading drug at all...more like extremely likable music. While not overwhelmingly profound, Part is never shallow, either. "Fratres" is actually several different pieces written from roughly the same material, and arranged for several different types of ensembles. I have been particularly enraptured by the setting for cello and piano, which displays some rather virtuosic playing.

Tracks:

I. Maestoso - Frans Helmerson
II. Largo - Frans Helmerson
Allegro - Frans Helmerson
Perpetuum Mobile
I. Canons
II. Prelude And Fugue - Walter Forchert
First Movement
Second Movement
Third Movement
First Movement
Second Movement
Third Movement

Amazon.com

The symphonies of Arvo Pärt will surprise anyone familiar with his contemplative, mature style. Pärt began life as a member of the Eastern European modern school, not so far removed from contemporaries such as Penderecki and Górecki. His three symphonies show his gradual renunciation of the more radical aspects of his musical syntax, a return to emotional directness, and the beginnings of that otherworldly quality that has become the outstanding feature of his later work. Not all listeners have traveled the path with him, some finding his recent music tedious and pretentious rather than spiritual, and these three relatively early symphonies really do add a welcome depth and roundness of profile to a composer who can all too easily seem one-dimensional. It's important to keep in mind that, unlike so many members of today's pseudospiritual school of composers (England's John Tavener being the prime example), Pärt is a real composer operating even in the most mystical musings. Järvi deserves real credit for calling attention to this fact in such a powerful way. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

A Poet's Journey.......2005-02-24

Arvo Part seems to have bifurcated the music world into those that dismiss him as a perjurer and those who look beyond occasional lapses in technique to find the spiritualist to come. This CD, finely performed by Neemi Jarvi and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, places a lot on the table for digesting. The earlier works, while tough and dissonant - especially the Cello Concerto 'Pro et contra' - explores the atonal and aural spectrum of sound (and tolerance!) yet it is among the more unique of the works. Survey the Symphonies 1, 2, and 3 is a wise programming choice. By the time we are in the final movement of the Symphony #2 we are back on terra firma with Brucknerian glows and the Symphony #3 is more in tune with Part's works that speak to the spirit. It is here in this 1971 work that we hear all the inceptions of the mystery of his later works, such as the perfect MISERERE of 1989/90.

This is a fine introductory sampler of the beginnings of a composer's genre that has matured well. Grady Harp, February 2005

Worth it for the Second Symphony alone.......2003-08-12

I'm still getting acquainted with the music on this CD, but I've been particularly struck by the Second and Third Symphonies. The Second is quite amazing. The first two movements are highly atonal, and the third, beginning with a insistent ostinato drum against some haunting tonal figures from the rest of the orchestra, leads to an intense development, with increasing atonality and tone clusters, towards a climax out of which flows a peaceful setting of music of Tchaikovsky, but with a last brief episode of agony before the peaceful and tonal conclusion. The idea of appending Tchaikovsky reminds me of Berg's Violin Concerto, which is explicitly about the struggle of dying and the final peace that follows--if there is a program to the Second Symphony, it may be similar to the Berg. The Third Symphony could hardly be more different, and the only reason I'm not surprised to have never heard it anywhere is the seemingly increased aversion to 20th century classical music everywhere. It's amazing that Part would change his compositional style so quickly. I don't know the piece well yet, but it is quite tonal and very attractive, yet not at all like the Berliner Messe or Part's other more recent and better known music.

Early Arvo...different, but good........2000-12-24

For those of you out there only familiar with Arvo Part's latter works (those in his self-proclaimed "tintinabuli" style) you will probably be shocked by this CD. The disc contains pieces written between 1963 and 1971, and they are really different from the works he is famous for (not to say that they are necessarily worse, just different.) The earliest piece "Perpetuum Mobile" hits like a sonic tidal wave. It begins brewing low and slow until it gathers so much momentum and force that by the end you literally get hit like a wave. It can be overwhelming and exhausing (especially if you are expecting "typical" Arvo Part.) Also included on this CD is his "Cello Concerto" titled "Pro et Contra." This 8 & 1/2 minute piece runs the gamut of sounds. It is almost like a highlight reel of classical music since Bach. There is a lot of neo-Baroque music here (or simply music written in the Baroque style), but that is right alongside some of the most atonal serialist music ever put on paper. There are times when the cello is slapped, or when the bow is popped against the body. It is pretty wild stuff, but it is actually very good...very original. I've heard tons of that kind of stuff, but Part is good at doing it and making it actually sound like music.

Next are the symphonies: Symphony no. 1 (1964) is two movements, 16 minutes long and powerful. (Powerful is a theme that runs throughout these works.) To me, Part has always been masterful in his use of percussion (like in "Sarah Was Ninety Years Old" for example.) His use of tympani in this piece is amazing.

Symphony no. 2 is one of the more bizarre pieces I've ever heard (and probably the least memorable work on the album.) One thing that makes it memorable though is the atonal pizzicato and the use of children's squeak toys to begin the piece. It is a good work, but definately not the first thing you would want to let someone hear if you were trying to turn them on to Part's music. There is some piercing flute in this one as well.

Symphony no. 3 is the first indication of Part's genius in my opinion. Most people point to "Tabula Rasa" as the turning point of his work, and relegate "Symphony no. 3" as a transitional work. This may be the case, but all of the chaos (and bleating horns) are gone in Symphony no. 3. While it may not be as great as "Tabula Rasa" I think it certainly is a landmark work. Even from the first few bars, the work is decidedly more contemplative than his earlier work. The piece is 21 minutes long and gorgeous. The fact that it isn't performed more is criminal (of course, hardly ANY of his work is performed.) I also enjoyed conductor Neeme Jarvi's other reading of this work with the Gothenburg Symphony on Deutsche Grammaphon.

If you are looking for more of Arvo Part's contemplative works, this is not the place to look, but if you want to see some early signposts of genius in a great composer's career, I HIGHLY recommend picking up this disc.

This CD will shock fans who only know his later work!.......2000-03-10

As mentioned in the title line, this CD will truly shock those only familiar with Part's work after the late 1970's. Works like his transitional masterpiece "Tabula Rasa," or others like his "Litany," "Miserere," and "Kanon Pokajanen" are quite different from the pieces contained on this disc. The CD opens with "Pro et Contra" which is an 8 & 1/2 minute long cello concerto of wrenching intensity. It uses collage techniques: fusing neo-baroque techniques with those of serialism to make a potent and jarring piece. Although only 8 & 1/2 minutes in length, it is made extremely powerful by the juxtaposition of those two seemingly different idioms (baroque & serialism.) Its valuable to know that this piece was written 10 years prior to "Tabula Rasa." Another short piece "Perpetuum Mobile" (1963) is an absolute showstopper! It was one of the first pieces Part wrote that won major awards. It can be likened to a train picking up speed or a storm building up momentum. At the end of the 4 minute piece the listener is exhausted, yet simulatneously amazed. Although "savage" by traditional standards, one can see it a sign of the unique genius that was soon to emerge. Symphony no. 1 is a must hear...cacophony at its finest. It screams, groans, howls, and even occasionally flutters and dances. Symphony no. 2 is interesting, but probably the weakest piece on the album (although it is interesting that the first movement incorporates children's squeak toys as an instrument!) Symphony no. 3 is the true foreshadowing of Part's genius. The piece envelops both melancholy and hope in a pensive and beautiful fashion. Part's use of bells in the first movement is stunning and gives the first real glimpes of his celebrated "tintinnabuli" style. This album is an absolute necessity to those wanting to understand Part's current style. The more one listens to these albums, the more one realizes that these pieces have merit on their own and shouldn't be viewed as mere building blocks (as many have wanted to do.) Also, fellow Estonian Neeme Jarvi does an excellent job conducting (by the way the 3rd symphony is dedicated to him.) Pick up this disc, you won't be sorry!

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Hybris [Import]

Ravel: Boléro; Rapsodie espagnole [Original recording remastered]

Mogwai [EP] [Import]

Handmade

Anthology: Do Ya Wanna Play, Carl?

Over the Rainbow [Original recording remastered]

Nunsense (1986 Original Off-Broadway Cast) [Cast Recording]

Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 29, 35 & 36

Pop Hits Monthly Karaoke - ROCK Sept 2004

Massenet - Manon / Gheorghiu, Alagna, Patriarco, van Dam, Ragon, Rivenq, Panzarella, Koch, Schimmack, Pappano [Box set]

Nuclear War [Import] [Original recording remastered]

Live [Live]

La Pauta: Best Reggaeton Compilation

The Beach Music Anthology

Mane Attraction