Fratres

On this CD:

1. Sonata for Violin and Piano
Composed by John Corigliano
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

2. Sonata for Violin and Piano
Composed by John Corigliano
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

3. Fratres, for chamber ensemble
Composed by Arvo Part
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

4. Fratres, for chamber ensemble
Composed by Arvo Part
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

5. Sonata for violin and piano
Composed by Paul Moravec
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

6. Sonata for violin and piano
Composed by Paul Moravec
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

7. Toccata-Scherzo
Composed by Albert Glinsky
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

8. Toccata-Scherzo
Composed by Albert Glinsky
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

9. Quatuor pour la fin du temps, for violin, cello, clarinet, & piano, I/22 Louange à l'éternité de Jésus (Praise to the Immortality of Jesus)
Composed by Olivier Messiaen
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

10. Quatuor pour la fin du temps, for violin, cello, clarinet, & piano, I/22 Louange à l'éternité de Jésus (Praise to the Immortality of Jesus)
Composed by Olivier Messiaen
Performed by Maria Bachmann, Jon Klibonoff

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

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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.

Part: Summa
Average customer rating:

Wow!!

Serene, but Sophisticated

Part: Summa
Arvo Part , Paavo Jarvi , and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Part | Part, Arvo | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:

Arvo Pärt Sanctuary

Alina - Arvo Part

Lamentate

Arvo Pärt: De Profundis

Silencio

ASIN: B00005MNCL
Release Date: 2002-12-23

Tracks:

Summa
Trisagion
I. 1/4nt = 66
II. 1/2nt = 54-56
III. 1/2nt = 60
Fratres
Silouans Song
Festina Lente
Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten

Amazon.com

At a mere five minutes, Arvo Pärt's Summa is actually the shortest composition on this CD. But, for its sheer, austere beauty, the work makes a fitting introduction to this orchestral disc. Pärt's trademark "tintinnabulation" style is in full effect on this sublime recording. Each of these works sounds simple and minimalist, yet also achingly profound. In Pärt's Symphony No. 3 (the earliest piece here, dating from 1971), the roots of his groundbreaking technique are just beginning to take shape: the ringing of bells, the calculated tension, and the hints of early music all add to the three-movement work's drama. For Trisagion and Silouans Song, the pace slows down, and the string orchestra resonates like a haunting church organ (it's easy to sense the enormous influence of Pärt's Eastern Orthodox religion, even on these instrumental compositions). Paavo Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra are naturals at interpreting the contemplative music of their country's most famous composer, and the sound quality throughout is excellent. There are far too many Pärt CDs to recommend, but this one will easily serve as an excellent introduction to the composer's magical sonic universe. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

Wow!!.......2005-12-25

I have enjoyed the music of Part for a long time.
Fratres and the Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten are wonderful pieces.
In many ways, I prefer this version of the Cantus over Paavo's father, Neeme.
They are both wonderful performances.
Paavo, in his way, makes this piece more cathartic. The srings are so great.
And, for me, the real find was the Third Symphony. The elements of chant, monastic melody and simplicity were astounding.
Heavenly music!!

Serene, but Sophisticated.......2003-06-01

It's hard to imagine a finer recording of Pärt's orchestral works. The selection of pieces is excellent (and quite extensive), the orchestra is well-balanced and well-blended, and the tempi are chosen with the utmost sensitivity. The damp, cathedralesque ambience of the recording may tend to drain some of the expressive quality out of the strings, but these solemn, mystical works sound very much at home in such an environment. I prefer these recordings even to the famous 'Tabula Rasa' disc on ECM.

Tracks:

Bells
Intonazione Ottavo Tono
Canzona
Introit
Son 333
Toccata 1
Intonazione Primo Tono
Kyrie
Christe
Kyrie
Gloria
Collect
Intonazione Terzo
Epistle
Canzona
Gospel
Intonazione Settimo Tono
Offertory: Deus Qui Beatum Marcum
Preface
Sanctus & Benedictus
Fanfare Sarasinetta
Son
Pater Noster
Canzona
Intonzione Quinto Tono
Communion: O Sacrum Convivium
Postcommunion
Benedictus Dominus Deus Sabaoth
Motet: Omnes Gentes

Customer Reviews:

Andrea and Giovanni.......2007-05-10

I can only say "ditto" to all the previous reviews. This recording has to be the best one of Andrea's works, which are all too rarely performed. Love the strong, low-register, at-times-blasting brass! Surely this is how the Gabrieli's intended the music. It makes the hair stand up on the back of one's neck! McCreesh's dynamic's instincts are spot-on and are a dramatic departure from his previous efforts. I cannot praise this CD enough.....

This CD won several awards .......2007-03-24

The other reviews here are spot on and i agree! This is a very special disc.
May i also add that it was awarded Record of the Year 1990 by ABC-FM Stereo
here in Australia and Gramophone (UK) 1990 Early Music Award.
I also suggest looking at abcshop dot com dot au for a superb selection of High quality classical music most of which is produced in Oz and not seen in huge quantities overseas. Amazon does have a few also. Type in ABC Classics
and browse through the selection.

Venetian Coronation CD.......2007-01-09

The item arrived in a good time and was well packed and in excellent condition. It was less than ordering it elsewhere. I learned of the music on PBS radio and was enchanted by it. Having a copy is a joy.

Wow! This is the best I've heard Gabrieli.......2005-01-19

The performance of Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli is quite amazing. The acoustical effects of brass, organ and voices bouncing of the walls in natural stereophonic sound is really beyond description. A good mix of brass ensemble, vocals, organ and gregorian chant. I had not listened much to Andrea Gabrieli before I bought this CD and I have to admit that his contributions to this CD are very powerful.

The "omnes" at the end of the cd has extraordinary musical power. It builds to an amazing climax that has caused many a chill to go up my spine. On a personal note, I listened to this song on my way to see my alzheimer's stricken mother who had died just moments earlier. The finale to this CD represents the finale to my mother's life to me and will always be an important piece of music to my soul. I truly love this cd.

5 stars doesn't do this recording justice.......2004-12-28

There is little to say about this superlative recording that hasn't been said before. It represents the high point of the recording career of Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort and Players. This recording happens to be one of the best recordings of the music of Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli available.

If you only ever buy one recording of Gabrieli's music, make it this one. There are a few good recordings of Gabrieli's music but none are better that 'A Venetian Coronation'. The recording 'Venetian Church Music', by the Taverner Consort & Players, is similar in quality to 'A Venetian Coronation', only Andrew Parrott did not choose to present the music as a recreation of an event.

The cornetts, Baroque violins, Baroque trombones and organs are all played with great style and panache in this recording. The choir features men's voices - from soprano to bass, and the sound blends beautifully with the cornetts and sackbuts.

Listen to 'Deus qui beatum Marcum' and you'll buy this recording.

This recording was a miracle and a wonder in its time and it is still the most impressive recording of its kind.

Average customer rating:

A great Cd
Good Kronos Stuff
An Eclectic Mix

Kronos Quartet : Winter Was Hard
Aulis Sallinen , Terry Riley , Arvo Part , Anton Webern , John Zorn , John Lurie , Astor Piazzolla , Alfred Schnittke , Samuel Barber , Anonymous , Hank Dutt , David Harrington , Joan Jeanrenaud , John Sherba , Earl L. Miller , Christian Marclay , Ohta Hiromi , and Kronos Quartet
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Kronos Quartet: At The Grave of Richard Wagner
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Black Angels
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ASIN: B000005IZ0
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Winter Was Hard Op. 20
Half-Wolf Dances Mad In Moonlight
Frates
Six Bagatelles Op. 9
Forbidden Fruit
Bella By Barlight
Four, For Tango
Quartet No. 3
Adagio
A Door Is Ajar

Customer Reviews:

A great Cd.......2002-09-23

I think this album should recieve 5 stars. I think this because Forbidden Fruit by Zorn is a great piece of music which everyone should be familiar with. He quotes some great stuff in the work...among other things an excerpt from Beethoven's Grosse Fugue for String quartet. The rest of the music on this CD is fantastic. I feel the reviewer below gave three stars due to a inability to understand Zorn. But if you don't fall under that category or if you are willing to listen and be openminded I reccomend this CD without reserve

Good Kronos Stuff.......2002-06-24

This album was my introduction to the Kronos Quartet. It is as good an introduction as I've heard. It illustrates both the positive and negative aspects of this talented quartet.

Some of the works on this recording are quite wonderful. Most exciting to me is the excerpt from Terry Riley's Salome Dances for Piece. The movement is exciting and stunningly played. It is also interesting to compare the version here with the version on the Kronos' recording of the complete work. If you listen to them side by side you can hear the extent of improvisation in the work. The most interesting thing is that, despite the improvisations, the work has a similar impact in each version.

Other gems on the CD include the Salonen title track, the Piazolla pieces, and a passionate reading of the Barber Adagio, perhaps the best I've ever heard. The Kronos also does a fine job with the Webern, though the competition here is much more fierce. And they also do a great job with the Schnittke Quartet, though I have always found the Russian composer's work hard to get close to.

Some of the other pieces are less successful. The quartet version of the Part Fratres is not bad, but does not have the impact of the all cello version. The Jon Lurie piece is a throwaway. And I have never understood the world's fascination with John Zorn. Just don't get it.

All in all, this is a good introduction to the work of the Kronos and most interesting for an alternate version of a major score by Terry Riley. But it's not a must have.

An Eclectic Mix.......1998-09-23

This is a terrific CD. From Webern to John Lurie, to John Zorn's wild "Forbidden Fruit," to a stunning rendition of Barber's Adagio in it's original String Quartet form, this album rocks. Okay, probably not the most appropriate description of a string quartet album, but it does--it rocks. I think this is my favorite recording of the Barber Adagio. Some challenging pieces, but for anyone that loves contemporary classical music, this is a great set.

Average customer rating:

Get your hanky....this is very, very emotional music
The best relaxing and inspirational CD in my collection.

Music for the Soul

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Bedroom Adagios
Williams: The Five Sacred Trees (Bassoon Concerto) / Takemitsu: Tree Line / Hovhaness: Symphony No. s, Op. 132 "Mysterious Mountain" / Picker: Old and Lost Rivers
Appassionato
The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life
The Soul's Religion

ASIN: B000002SMO
Release Date: 1997-03-25

Tracks:

Alma Redemptoris Mater - Chor Of King's College, Cambridge/Stephen Cleobury
Tu Solus Qui Facis Mirabilia - The Hilliard Ens/Paul Hillier
Old And Lost Rivers - Houston SO/Christoph Eschenbach
Vespers-Ave Maria - Swedish Radio Chor/Tonu Kaljuste
Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten - Bournemouth Sinf/Richard Studt
Salve Regina - The Sixteen/Harry Christophers
Fratres (Version VI) - LPO/Franz Welser-Most
Nuper Rosarum Flores - The Hilliard Ens/Paul Hillier
Adagio - Saint Louis SO/Leonard Slatkin
Symphony No.3-Second Movt - Zofia Kilanowicz

Customer Reviews:

Get your hanky....this is very, very emotional music.......2003-08-03

This is very emotional music that may easily bring a tear or many
to your eyes.....this is very powerful music .....know that going into
it.

The best relaxing and inspirational CD in my collection........1998-08-10

I'm back to buy this CD for a friend who writes while listening to this type of music, as I do. The CD inspires and presents consistent selections of music that take you "out of it" and allow you to think. I've purchased many CDs looking for this type of music, and I listen to this one most often. It's a rare find.

Average customer rating:

Palestrina: Stabat Mater

Manufacturer: Gaudeamus
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Merbecke: Ave Dei Patris Filia; Domine Ihesu Christe
Palestrina: Missa Pro Defunctis/Motets

ASIN: B0000BX5LG
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Tracks:

Hosanna Filio David (Plainsong)
Pueri Hebraeorum
Improperium
O Domine, Jesu Christe A6
Fratres, Ego Enim Accepi
Dominus Jesus
Popule Meus
Crux Fidelis
Stabat Mater
Terra Tremuit
Ardens Est Cor Meum
Congratulamini Mihi Omnes
Haec Dies A6
Crucem Sanctam Subiit
Et Respicientes (Plainsong)
Magnificat Tertii Toni A6
Et Respicientes (Plainsong)
Victimae Paschali Laudes A8

Average customer rating:

Pärt fans take note
Profound and intense
A contemporary tour de force

World To Come

Manufacturer: Koch Int'l Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Tango | Latin Music | Styles | Music
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Kinship
Oblivion
Osvaldo Golijov: Ayre
Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar
Golijov: Yiddishbbuk

ASIN: B0000CABC4
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Tracks:

Osvaldo Golijov: Mariel
David Lang: World To Come I
David Lang: World To Come II
David Lang: World To Come III
David Lang: World To Come IV
Arvo Part: Fratres for Four Cellos
John Tavener: Lament for Phaedra

Customer Reviews:

Pärt fans take note.......2005-08-12

Beyond the musical composition there is an intangible, almost mystical quality to many of Pärt's albums, especially my personal favorite - Tabula Rasa. Maya's version of Fratres is what initially attracted me to this album. However, this cut is actually now one of my least favorites. Track #1 alone would make this album worth the price. Maya's playing captures something that is beyond words and beyond any attempts to evaluate it based solely on its musicality. Buy it.

Profound and intense.......2005-03-23

It is impossible to describe this music, but suffice it to say that this CD contains some of the most compelling and interesting new music I've ever heard. The compositions have great emotional/spiritual depth and intensity, and Beiser's playing is strong and authoritative.

A contemporary tour de force.......2003-11-04

Maya Beiser's new recording is a sensational exploration into the world of multi-track recording. "Mariel" is a spiritual work, centered around what sounds like a South American folk song. "World to Come," by far the largest work on this disc, with vocals and multiple tracks of cellos, is inspirational and hopeful. A really enjoyable disc.

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
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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