Pärt: Summa

1. Collage over B-A-C-H, for strings, oboe, harpsichord & piano
Composed by Arvo Part
Performed by Tapiola Sinfonietta with Jouko Laivuori , Jouko Laivuori
Conducted by Jean-Jacques Kantorow

2. Fratres, for strings & percussion
Composed by Arvo Part
Performed by Tapiola Sinfonietta Conducted by Jean-Jacques Kantorow

3. Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, for string orchestra & bell
Composed by Arvo Part
Performed by Tapiola Sinfonietta Conducted by Jean-Jacques Kantorow

4. Summa, for string orchestra
Composed by Arvo Part
Performed by Tapiola Sinfonietta Conducted by Jean-Jacques Kantorow

5. Festina lente, for strings & harp ad lib
Composed by Arvo Part
Performed by Tapiola Sinfonietta Conducted by Jean-Jacques Kantorow

6. Tabula rasa, concerto for 2 violins (or violin & viola), prepared piano & string orchestra
Composed by Arvo Part
Performed by Tapiola Sinfonietta with Jan Soderblom , Jouko Laivuori
Conducted by Jean-Jacques Kantorow

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.

Arvo Pärt: De Profundis
Average customer rating:

a great combination, part and hilliard

Beautiful and Profound

Power and Grace

Rich, lovely, unmatched music

Classical music is not dead

Arvo Pärt: De Profundis

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tabula Rasa

ASIN: B0000007FL
Release Date: 1997-03-10

Tracks:

De Profundis (Psalm 129)
Missa Sillabica: Kyrie
Missa Sillabica: Gloria
Missa Sillabica: Credo
Missa Sillabica: Sanctus
Missa Sillabica: Angus Dei
Missa Sillabica: Ite missa est
Solfeggio
'And One Of The Pharisees'
Cantate Domino (Psalm 95)
Summa (Credo)
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Weisheit
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Adonai
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Spross
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Schlussel
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Morgenstern
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Konig
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Immanuel
The Beatitudes
Magnificat

Amazon.com

Marx and Lenin probably would not have appreciated the irony, but after decades of Communist repression of religion, the former Soviet bloc is the source of a profound outpouring of explicitly Christian expression. This is manifested in the music of such composers as Henryk Gorecki, a Pole, and Arvo Pärt, an Estonian. Part, a refugee from serialism, here writes in a quasi-minimalist style that he calls "tintinnabuli," a sound that echoes medieval composition. A fan of vocal music ("The human voice is the most perfect instrument of all"), he uses choruses to superb effect. This disc includes some of his best work, including the popular Magnificat, beautifully rendered by the Theatre of Voices under Paul Hillier. --Sarah Bryan Miller

Customer Reviews:

a great combination, part and hilliard.......2004-06-21

i purchased this CD recently and was a bit worried. i enjoy part and hillard, but the length of the pieces was often so short. i really enjoy it when part writes long, epic pieces and the vocal work really explores all types of music.

instead, what i found was a collection of many small gems, each of which combine to form the larger work i was looking for. i'm not particularily religious, but i find the deep spiritualism in part's work to be profound and soothing. this disc is no exception, as part and hillaird explore religion, theology and philosophy through music and voice.

this CD is well arranged and orchestrated, and ranks among the best of any of part's works. i've been leary of hearing part work outside of the ECM new series of recordings, but i'm happy i explored. few pairings work as well as hillaird and part, i'm thankful they share their work.

Beautiful and Profound.......2004-02-06

I picked up this wonderful gem on a whim. As sacristan for my Jesuit university campus ministry, I was looking for good and movintg religious music. This surpasses anything being marketed as "liturgical" music for churches.

Part creates music that is beatiful, moving and profound. It transported me to another world; it is a deeply moving experience. Some of these tracks have already become my favorite works of musical art as well as meditative prayers.

Power and Grace.......2002-01-10

Hillier's Theatre of Voices gives an absolutely wonderful rendering of Pärt's work. The music is amazing, recalling medieval choral music as well as contemporary ideas in musical composition. Pärt manages to touch on a wide range of feeling throughout all of these compositions, conveying emotion while maintaining the kind of austerity of sound found in medieval chant. Ultimately, the CD provides a moving and enjoyable listening experience. I would recommend it to both seasoned fans of choral music and neophytes alike.

Rich, lovely, unmatched music.......2001-07-23

This music is gorgeous, whether you think you like choral music or not.

The first time I heard Arvo Part, I was browsing in a music store and stopped to listen with a pair of crummy headphones. The sounds and tone drew me into another world, one made lovely by the rich and carefully-worked composition of a master.

The recording is perfect. The music is like nothing else I've heard, more deeply-felt and inspiring than anything I'm familiar with. I would not call myself a fan of choruses, but Part's work is extraordinary.

Classical music is not dead.......2000-05-18

For anyone who thought that "classical" music had been killed by atonal dissonance or kidnapped into the absurd esoteria of academic abstraction, I recommend the music of Avro Part. Similar in style to another (some would say 'THE' other) great modern composer Gorecki, the music is heavy and religious in tone and absolutely beautiful. I was an immediate convert to Part's music, and, from what I can tell, I am not alone.

Arvo Pärt: Berliner Messe; Magnificat; Summa

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Gorgeous Choral Music by Pärt, Gorgeously Performed

Arvo Pärt: Berliner Messe; Magnificat; Summa

Manufacturer: Naxos
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Binding: Audio CD

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Lamentate

ASIN: B0002TXT5M
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Tracks:

Cantate Domino Canticum Novum
Kyrie
Gloria
Alleluia Verses I & II
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
De Profundis
Summa
The Beatitudes
Magnificat

Album Description

With a number of modern classics already to his name, notably the Symphony No. 3, Tabula Rasa, Fratres and Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, culminating in 1982 with his largest work thus far, the St John Passion, Arvo Pärt has during the past 20 years consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant composers at work today with a sequence of magnificent sacred choral works. The present recording provides an overview of Pärt's mature idiom with works written on either side of the Passion, and in which a gradual expressive openingout and harmonic enrichment of the composer's musical vocabulary can be detected. The Magnificat is perhaps Pärt's most immediately appealing choral work whose alternation of solo and tutti sections imparts a powerful spiritual aura.

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous Choral Music by Pärt, Gorgeously Performed.......2004-12-02

I will be the first to admit that I have not been a particular fan of the trend in contemporary choral music that partakes rather heavily of ancient methods--music like that of Pärt and John Tavener--and have tended to steer clear of them after a few exposures. I liked Pärt's 'St. John Passion' but felt it went on too long and was just a bit monochrome. I have also not been a big fan of trance music, of which some of this music seems to take part. But for some reason I have really responded positively to this release of choral music by Pärt. Perhaps it is because the performances are so wonderful. The Elora Festival Singers are a group made up of professional singers from Toronto, mostly from, I think, Toronto's well-known Mendelssohn Choir. I have been impressed with other recordings they have made and I suppose that's why I gave this CD a listen. Some, or even perhaps all, of these pieces have been recorded before, some several times, and some by such wonderful groups as the Hilliard Ensemble, the group that first recorded the 'St. John Passion.' Perhaps my positive response also has something to do with the fact that there are several shorter pieces here, pieces that one can easily imagine being performed as part of a church service, rather than an evening long work like the Passion. Amazon has not, as of the date of this review, listed the individual pieces included here. They are:

Cantate Domino Canticum Novum (Psalm 95) (1977, rev. 1996)
Berliner Messe (1990-91, rev. 1992)
De Profundis (1980)
Summa (1977)
The Beatitudes (1990, rev. 1991)
Magnificat (1989)

The largest piece here (23 minutes long) is the seven-movement 'Berliner Messe' which exists in several versions. The one here is for string orchestra and choir. The orchestral accompaniment is very spare (and very lovely) and, as with most of Pärt's choral music, the choir sings a kind of extended Gregorian chant with much unison singing but also with austere choral harmonies that often include added-note triadic chords. The effect is prayerful and serene. The 'Credo' is a rewriting of the earlier 'Summa,' which also appears here as a separate piece. In both the 'Credo' and the earlier 'Summa' there is a medieval-sounding etiolation of Lutheran chorale tunes. The 'Agnus Dei' is particularly haunting.

The setting of the 'Psalm 95' ('O sing unto the Lord a new song') is a simple chant-like setting for four-part chorus and organ with changing harmonies and spare organ accompaniment. 'De Profundis' ('Out of the depths I have called unto Thee') does indeed rise out of the depths, with tenors and basses intoning the main theme; quiet bass drum strokes and a recurring single tubular chime note against a wavering organ ostinato create an incantatory effect. 'The Beatitudes' and 'Magnificat' (the latter possibly the most performed of all of Pärt's choral pieces) are in like vein. The seven-minute 'Magnificat' alternates solo and choral sections and perhaps provides a bit more contrast than others of his works.

Although I have not heard other recordings of these pieces, I cannot praise too highly the limpid, lightly inflected, and reverent singing of the Elora Festival Singers, along with the excellent support of their partners, the Elora Festival Orchestra and organist Jürgen Petrenko, led by their conductor (and Elora founder) Noel Edison. This is music-making at the highest level.

Recommended.

Scott Morrison

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

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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:

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
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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:

Arvo Pärt: Fratres, etc.

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ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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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)

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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Miserere
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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

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa; Symphony No. 3; Collage
Arvo Pärt: Berliner Messe; Magnificat; Summa
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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:

Senex Puerum Portabat A 5 - Calefax Reed Qt
7 Magnificant-Antiphone: O Weisheit - Kai Wessel
7 Magnificant-Antiphone: O Adonai - Kai Wessel
7 Magnificant-Antiphone: O Spross Aus Isais Wurzel - Kai Wessel
7 Magnificant-Antiphone: O Schussel Davids - Kai Wessel
7 Magnificant-Antiphone: O Morgenstern - Kai Wessel
7 Magnificant-Antiphone: O Konig Aller Volker - Kai Wessel
7 Magnificant-Antiphone: O Immanuel - Kai Wessel K
Magnificant - Kai Wessel
Senex Puerum Portabat A 4 - Calefax Reed Qt
Arbos - Calefax Reed Qt
Summa - Calefax Reed Qt
Pari Intervallo - Calefax Reed Qt
Missa A 5: Kyrie - Calefax Reed Qt
Missa A 5: Gloria - Calefax Reed Qt
Missa A 5: Credo - Calefax Reed Qt
Missa A 5: Sanctus - Calefax Reed Qt
Missa A 5: Benedictus - Calefax Reed Qt
Missa A 5: Agnus Dei - Calefax Reed Qt

Arvo Pärt: Collage sur B-A-C-H / Summa (1991 Version) / Wenn Bach Bienen Gezüchtet Hätte / Fratres (1983 Version) / Symphony No. 2 / Festina Lente / Credo - Neeme Järvi / Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus / Boris Berman

Average customer rating:

Most Striking Pärt
Excellent intro to early Arvo Part
Worthwhile for the version of Summa alone.

Arvo Pärt: Collage sur B-A-C-H / Summa (1991 Version) / Wenn Bach Bienen Gezüchtet Hätte / Fratres (1983 Version) / Symphony No. 2 / Festina Lente / Credo - Neeme Järvi / Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus / Boris Berman
Arvo Part , Neeme Jarvi , Boris Berman , and Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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Arvo Part: 24 Preludes for a Fugue
Lamentate

ASIN: B000000AR1
Release Date: 1994-07-26

Tracks:

Collage Sur B-A-C-H: I Tocatta. Preciso - 120
Collage Sur B-A-C-H: II Sarabande. Lento - 42
Collage Sur B-A-C-H: III Ricercar. Deciso - 126-132
Summa
Wenn Bach Bienen gezuchtet hatte
Fratres
Symphony No. 2: I - 104-120
Symphony No. 2: II - 112
Symphony No. 2: III - 48-60
Festina lente: Festina lente - 52
Credo: Credo - 54-60

Customer Reviews:

Most Striking Pärt.......2007-02-24

For all of those who look for early works of Pärt this is a precious recording. I believe there are a lot of people who don't find much appeal in Pärt's late repetitive, mystic works for the very same reasons others prefer them. So what's up here is that Pärt has a few lesser known works before, say, his third symphony which are the "opposite" of the mentioned above. Those who are found of Schnittke will surely appreciate this. The most remarkable composition in this record is maybe the "Credo" for piano mixed choir and orchestra. It consists of 13 minutes of duel between the forces of the past (represented by Bach's well known motifs) and the eruptive resources of modernist aleatoric clusters of sound. So, pools of beautiful passages are interrupted by (or combined with) destructive (or desconstructive) interventions of the orchestra till the whole, peaking sometimes the frenetic, becomes yet a powerful block of distinctive sound. In spite of this chaotic character the music is full of imaginative textures never becoming static and confusing. What's impressive is that this work is from 1968! The 2nd symphony, even earlier, although not so exuberant also offers similar processes, sometimes with strong percussion, and includes an unexpected romantic melodic passage by the end which, no matter how much ironic it may be intended, moves the listener by moments to another atmosphere. (The 1st symphony may be found on "Searching for roots" compilation by Virgin with works of Tüur and Tubin). "Collage sur B-A-C-H" is better known and so are the remaining works which are more recent. It must be said that the commented works here, exploring most of the times the technique of "appropriation", may belong to Pärt's youth searching period and maybe discussable as not as relevant as his mystic late works - but they are surely very refreshing for all who enjoy the fruitful style of 60's modernism and want to know the other face of Pärt.

Excellent intro to early Arvo Part.......2005-11-20

Of the many Part cds I've listened to and/or owned, this is the best introduction to his earlier work. It includes some familiar titles that are available in other recordings, like Summa and Fratres, but these earlier versions are different in interesting ways. "Wenn Bach Bienen Gezuchte Hatte" is almost worth the price of the cd and doesn't get recorded much for some reason.

Worthwhile for the version of Summa alone........1999-08-21

If this is your first stopping-off point listening to Part, you might find it more rewarding to begin with some of his more recent recordings or the better known works such as Tabula Rasa or Kanon Pokajanen.

However, this CD is certainly worth trying if only for the recording of Summa, (track 5) which is undoubtedly the best version that I have found to date amongst his work.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

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