Arvo Pärt delivers a brief collection of sacred music -- bold, stoic, and sober. His compositions are full of a passionate and melancholy sort of life, a life of deep humility and faith. One of his earliest releases on the ECM label, Tabula Rasa is a richly woven tapestry of string arrangements, and a good introduction to his work. The album opens ...
The Naxos label diverges from its usual plain graphic design with this attempt to create the idea of an "alternative classical" genre, an idea that has paid big dividends when applied to rock and country music. Most of the selections are drawn from existing Naxos releases, with a few taken from discs by Denmark's Da Capo and Germany's CPO labels. ...
A satisfying survey of Arvo Pärt's mature style, this 2004 release from Naxos presents several key works from 1977 to 1992, which helped establish the composer's reputation as a modern master of sacred choral music. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of Pärt's tonal works is his "tintinnabular" technique, where triadic harmonies are reiterated in ...
A richly realized collection of prayers that brings deep, resounding enlightenment to the ears. Everything about this compact disc feels like Arvo Pärt's master work, right down to the gorgeous photos in the accompanying booklet. "Te Deum" opens patiently and ominously, then proceeds to run the spectrum between overflowing swells and hushed ...
The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic are one of continental Europe's most successful crossover ensembles and one of Germany's few exemplars of what has been called post-classical music (it's a poor term, probably derived from the equally poor "postmodern") -- music that draws on materials from the classical tradition but incorporates popular ...
Surprises are in store here for anyone expecting the contemplative style for which Arvo Pärt is best known. The composer's identity is still recognizable -- events happen deliberately, in a slow, wave-like procession. But all three works on the disc are marked by dramatic contrasts rather than Pärt's usual resounding stasis. There's nothing ...
Credo by Hélène Grimaud is one of the most effectively sequenced discs ever released. The movement from the hazy postmodernism of John Corigliano's Fantasia on an Ostinato for solo piano and the passionate Romanticism of Beethoven's Tempest Sonata for solo piano, then on through the Enlightenment ecstasy of Beethoven's Choral Fantasia for piano ...
As the unaccompanied choral music of Estonian-born "holy minimalist" Arvo Pärt becomes more and more popular, listeners will encounter recordings of it made by groups beyond the orbit of the highly trained, mostly European choirs that have championed the composer thus far. It's worth asking how this will affect the reception of the composer's ...
This collection of short works by Arvo Pärt features a cappella music and some lightly accompanied by an organ. Conducting the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir is Paul Hillier, one of Pärt's most celebrated interpreters and the author of a book-length study of his music. Hillier came to Pärt from the field of early music, and in his notes he ...
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.