Release Date: 31 July 2006
Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313023974
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: PART
Description
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) Triodion • Tribute to Caesar • Nunc dimittis • Ode VII from Kanon Pokajanen I Am the True Vine • The Woman With the Alabaster Box • Dopo la vittoria Bogoróditse Djévo Arvo Pärt was born at Paide in Estonia on 11 September 1935. He studied with Harri Otsa and Veijo Tormis, then at the Tallinn Conservatory with Heino Eller, graduating in 1963. His first works adopt an undemanding neo-classical style, but a clandestine study of serial technique became apparent in Nekrolog (1960), heralding a series of scores, such as Perpetuum Mobile and the First 'Polyphonic' Symphony, which afforded Pärt notoriety amid the warily-conservative establishment of the period. A growing interest in the music of Bach led Pärt to combine the famous B-A-C-H motif with often wildly extraneous material, as in the cello concerto Pro et Contra and the Second Symphony (both 1966). The climax of this period came with Credo (1968), in which Bach and Modernism openly conflict in a work whose unabashed Christianity was considered a direct provocation to Soviet officialdom. Rather than pursue this line of thinking, Pärt retreated into virtual silence. The Third Symphony of 1971 [Naxos 8.554591] gave notice of an intense interest in early music, notably Gregorian chant, but not until 1976 did he begin to compose fluently, now using a tonal technique he termed 'tintinnabuli', in which the bell-like resonance of notes in a triad underscores a melodic voice which revolves step-wise around a central pitch. Several works now considered classics followed, Tabula Rasa [Naxos 8.554591], Fratres and Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten [Naxos 8.553750], culminating in 1982 with the St John Passion [Naxos 8.555860]. This paved the way for a sequence of mainly sacred choral works, consolidating Pärt's reputation among the most significant composers at work today. The present disc provides a view of his music over a decade: one in which the focussing on harmonic and rhythmic, thus expressive essentials is always apparent. Written for a commission to mark the 350th anniversary of the Karlstad Diocese in Sweden, Tribute to Caesar (1997) sets verse from the Gospel of St Matthew, where Jesus confronts the Pharisees with their hypocrisy. Within its modest dimensions, the piece contrasts overtly chordal passages with those in which a melodic declamation predominates, the two being integrated with the unassuming skill that is a hallmark of Pärt's most recent music for unaccompanied choir. Although the coupling of Magnificat and Nunc dimittis is a procedural 'given' in the Evening Service of the Anglican tradition, Pärt's setting of the former text was only joined by the latter after twelve years, his Nunc dimittis being written to a commission from St Mary's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh and first heard at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2001. The words taken from th
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Yang Zheng; Xinxin Song; ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Gottfried Rabl
Spectrum Concerts Berlin
Robert Trent
