Arvo Part

Review: This new anthology of Part's choral works replaces the earlier one published in 1999. It is even more representative of Part's work, not only because of the recent additions, but because of the very welcome decision to include two selections from his major a cappella work, Kanon Pokajanen. The revised selection is also carefully geared towards the music represented on three CDs, all of which were recorded in consultation with the composer. introduced by Paul Hillier.

Songlist: Arvo Part, Observation on the Performance of Arvo Part's choral music, Bemerkungen zur Auffuhrungspraxis der Chorwerke Arvo Parts, Remarques sur l'interpretation des oeuvres chorales d'Arvo Part, Werkvezeichnis- List of Works- Catalogue des oeuvres, An den Wassen zu Babel saben wir und weinten, Beatus Petronius, Cantate Domino canticum novum, Da Pacem, Domine, De profundis, Dopo la vittoria, Gebet nach dem Kanon, I Am the True Vine, Littlemore Tractus, Magnificat, Memento (Ode VII), Missa syllabica (a cappella), Most Holy Mother of God, Nunc dimittis, Salve Regina, Sieben Magnificat- Anthiphonen, Solfeggio, Statuit ei Dominus, Triodion, Veni creator, Which Was the Son of ..., Zwei slawische Psalmen

8735b | Songbook $49.95 | SATB Latvian Choral Music

Review: Creator Spiritus is the latest collaboration between GRAMMY Award winning conductor Paul Hillier and celebrated Estonian composer Arvo Part. The disc features a carefully selected collection of Part's choral and instrumental chamber music, drawn from different periods in the composer's career. Leading his celebrated vocal ensembles Theatre of Voices and Ars Nova Copenhagen and joined by the NYYD Quartet and long-time collaborator organist Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, Hillier produces another powerful recording of ethereal sacred music.

2916c | SACD $19.95

Review: Arvo Part's contemporary sacred work, St. John Passion, is sung in Latin and recalls the purity and timelessness of the great musical passions of the seventeenth century. Recorded from Durham's magnificent medieval cathedral, the performance features the Hilliard Ensemble and the Western Wind Choir, conducted by Paul Hillier. The solo parts are sung by John Potter (Pilate), Michael George (Christ), Mary Seers, David James, Roger Covey-Crump and Gordon Jones (The Evangelist Quartet). A short introduction precedes the work.

Songlist: 1.Opening credits, 2.Introduction, 3.Passio Domini nostri, 4.Haec cum dixisset Jesus, 5.Quem quaeritis?, 6.Stabat autem et Judas, 7Quem quaeritis?7, 8.Ut impleretur sermo, 9.Mitte gladium tuum in vaginam, 10.Cohors ergo, et tribunus, 11.Erat autem Caiphas, 12.Dixit ergo Petro ancilla ostiaria, 13.Stabant autem servi, 14.Ego palam locutus sum mundo, 15.Haec autem cum dixisset, 16. Erat autem Simon Petrus stans, 17.Adducunt ergo Jesum a Caipha, 18.Quam accusationem affertis, 19. Introivit ergo iterum in praetorium Pilatus, 20.Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo, 21.Tu dicis quia Rex sum ego, 22.Et cum hoc dixisset, iterum exivit ad Judaeous, 23. Tunc ergo apprehendit Pilatus Jesum, 24.Exivit ergo iterum Pilatus foras, 25.Cum ergo vidissent eum Pontifices, 26.Cum ergo audisset Pilatus hunc sermonem, 27. Non haberes potestatem adversum me ullam, 28.Et exinde quaerebat Pilatus dimittere eum, 29.Erat autem parasceve Paschae, 30.Et baiulans sibi crucem exivit in eum, and more.

8901dvd | DVD $19.95 Choral Performance DVDs

Review: During the past 20 years, Arvo Part has consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant contemporary composers with a sequence of magnificent sacred choral works. Dating from between 1990 and 2001, the works on this recording exemplify Part's mature idiom at its most harmonically expressive. If Triodion represents his music at its starkest and most unadorned, Kanon Pokajanen, the composer's largest work after the 1982 St John Passion (Naxos 8.555860), is music of a dark-hued and intensely felt contemplation. Part's emotionally-charged Bogorditse Djvo, is a vibrant tribute to the Virgin Mary.

Songlist: O Jesus Son of God, Have Mercy Upon Us, O Most Holy Birth-giver of God, Save Us, O Holy Saint Nicholas, Pray to God for Us, Tribute to Caesar, Nunc Dimittis, Ode VII, I am the True Vine, The Woman with the Alabaster Box, Dopo la Vittoria, Bogoroditse Djevo

4226c | 1 CD $9.95 Mixed Choirs CDs

Review: In celebration of composer Arvo Part's 70th birthday on September 11th, Harmonia Mundi offers this special selection of recordings, conducted by his long-time collaborator and biographer Paul Hillier. Of special note is the first release of Hillier's reading of Dopo la vittoria. Previously released recordings are taken from Hillier's two highly acclaimed recordings of the music of Arvo Part. His first CD, De Profundis, has remained a bestseller since its debut in March 1997. I Am The True Vine, his second Part disc, illustrated Hillier's unique affinity for the deep spiritual mysteries of Part's music, and his ability to illuminate them in ways no other performer can match. The collaborative relationship between Hillier and Estonian composer Part dates back to the early 1980s, when as director of the Hilliard Ensemble, he was among the first to present Part's music to the West.

Songlist: Dopo La Vittoria, The Woman With The Alabaster Box, Berliner Messe, Kyrie, Gloria, First Alleluia Verse, Second Alleluia Verse, Veni Sancte Spiritus, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Solfeggio, Magnificat, Bogoroditese Djevo, I Am The True Wine, Which Was The Son Of...

7867c | 1 CD $16.98

Review: 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 Part, 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.

Songlist: De Profundis, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Ite Misse Est, Solfeggio, And One Of Those Pharisees, Cantate Domino, Summa, O Weisheit, O Adonai, O Spross, O Schlussel, O Morgenstern, O Konig, O Immanuel, The Beatitudes, Magnificat

6136c | 1 CD $15.95

Review: Contemporary troubador Paul Hillier has been one of the key players behind introducing Arvo Part's music to Western audiences, first through recordings with the Hilliard Ensemble and later through his magnificently innovative group Theatre of Voices. I Am the True Vine continues the collaboration by bringing together some truly vintage Part compositions from the '90s. Although it exists on disc in a more elaborate version for choir and strings, the 1990 Berlin Mass was originally written for just four solo voices and organ. Part later revised the score, returning to that original sonority, which is the version offered here. The consummate preparation of the Theatre of Voices, in which every line is lovingly unfurled, the whole building into a memorable aural sculpture, only heightens a listener's admiration for Part's ability to make the seemingly simple profound. We also hear the composer in a more overtly joyful mood than usual in the short first selection, while the title track--a setting of a text from the Gospel of John and one of three world premiere recordings here--is a marvelously organic example of word painting (representing Part's choral virtuosity even when it comes to setting English text).

Songlist: Bogoroditse dyevo (Hail Mary), I Am the True Vine, Kanon Pokajanen, The Woman with the Alabaster Box, Tribute to Caesar, Berliner Messe

7868c | 1 CD $17.95