Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa (1984)

The first disc released in ECM's New Series:

CashBox, January 26, 1985, p. 9

Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer who created a type of minimalist composition technique he calls tintinnabuli. This recording is generally considered Pärt's introduction to the Western world and contains two of his most well-known works: Fratres and Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten. I discovered Fratres through a piano/cello version used in There Will Be Blood and I'm glad I did.

Headphones recommended.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "Sensitive, exciting, and fully realized compositions"
• Musician: "there's barely a moment on this recording that won't elevate or entrance the listener"
• DownBeat (★★): "'Where is the music?' As hapless Hamlet says in the play, that is the question."

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks, with links to program notes from the composer's website:

• Fratres (violin/piano)
• Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten (Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Dennis Russell Davies, cond.)
• Fratres (12 cellists)
• Tabula Rasa (Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Saulus Sondeckis, cond.)

My favorite here is the Cantus - such a gorgeous piece with constant downward motion until the resolution. Of the two versions of Fratres presented, I prefer the calmer setting for cellos. Tabula Rasa is a 26½ minute piece that includes two violin soloists and prepared piano (been a good long while since I've heard one of those). It will require more listening and work on my part - hopefully I can find a score to examine. I look forward to continuing that journey. [Here was a moving start to that journey, back when I subscribed to The New Yorker: Consolations: Arvo Pärt by Alex Ross, December 2, 2002]

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. This album was issued as I was heading off to college to study music and I wish someone had introduced me to it at that time.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Fratres (1995)

Arvo Pärt - Fratres (1995)

Rudolf Werthen conducting I Fiamminghi, the Orchestra of Flanders. Recorded in Basilica of Bonne Espérance, Vellereille-les-Brayeuz, Belgium, August 18-20, 1994.

Arvo Pärt is a Estonian composer in the minimalist tradition of the late 20th century. He invented his own "tintinnabuli" compositional style based in early chant music. Although formulaic, the pieces are very peaceful and beautiful - some of the more consonant music written in the past 50 years.

Fratres (the Latin word for brothers or brethren), originally written in 1977, now appears in more than 10 different arrangements, each of varying length and instrumentation. Six of these appear on this disc:

• strings and percussion (10:14)
• violin, strings and percussion (11:56)
• wind octet and percussion (8:04)
• eight cellos (9:45)
• string quartet (9:53)
• cello and piano (10:24)

Of these six, I prefer the arrangement for strings and percussion as well as the arrangement for cello and piano. For a much better and more thorough explanation of tintinnabuli and Fratres, click here.

Other works on this disc are Pärt's Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten (1977), Summa (1978), and Festina Lente (1988). All good and all very much in a similar vein. As a full 79 minute listening experience, this disc gets monotonous in a hurry. However, if you pick and choose your tracks when you're in just the right mood, it can be a fantastic listening experience.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  I've never heard a live performance of this work. I came to this music by its use in the 2007 film, There Will Be Blood.