Customer Reviews

Arvo Pärt: Cello Concerto "Pro et Contra"; Perpetuum Mobile; Symphonies Nos. 1-3

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As mentioned in the title line, this CD will truly shock those only familiar with Part's work after the late 1970's. Works like his transitional masterpiece "Tabula Rasa," or others like his "Litany," "Miserere," and "Kanon Pokajanen" are quite different from the pieces contained on this disc. The CD opens with "Pro et Contra" which is an 8 & 1/2 minute long cello concerto of wrenching intensity. It uses collage techniques: fusing neo-baroque techniques with those of serialism to make a potent and jarring piece. Although only 8 & 1/2 minutes in length, it is made extremely powerful by the juxtaposition of those two seemingly different idioms (baroque & serialism.) Its valuable to know that this piece was written 10 years prior to "Tabula Rasa." Another short piece "Perpetuum Mobile" (1963) is an absolute showstopper! It was one of the first pieces Part wrote that won major awards. It can be likened to a train picking up speed or a storm building up momentum. At the end of the 4 minute piece the listener is exhausted, yet simulatneously amazed. Although "savage" by traditional standards, one can see it a sign of the unique genius that was soon to emerge. Symphony no. 1 is a must hear...cacophony at its finest. It screams, groans, howls, and even occasionally flutters and dances. Symphony no. 2 is interesting, but probably the weakest piece on the album (although it is interesting that the first movement incorporates children's squeak toys as an instrument!) Symphony no. 3 is the true foreshadowing of Part's genius. The piece envelops both melancholy and hope in a pensive and beautiful fashion. Part's use of bells in the first movement is stunning and gives the first real glimpes of his celebrated "tintinnabuli" style. This album is an absolute necessity to those wanting to understand Part's current style. The more one listens to these albums, the more one realizes that these pieces have merit on their own and shouldn't be viewed as mere building blocks (as many have wanted to do.) Also, fellow Estonian Neeme Jarvi does an excellent job conducting (by the way the 3rd symphony is dedicated to him.) Pick up this disc, you won't be sorry!

For those of you out there only familiar with Arvo Part's latter works (those in his self-proclaimed "tintinabuli" style) you will probably be shocked by this CD. The disc contains pieces written between 1963 and 1971, and they are really different from the works he is famous for (not to say that they are necessarily worse, just different.) The earliest piece "Perpetuum Mobile" hits like a sonic tidal wave. It begins brewing low and slow until it gathers so much momentum and force that by the end you literally get hit like a wave. It can be overwhelming and exhausing (especially if you are expecting "typical" Arvo Part.) Also included on this CD is his "Cello Concerto" titled "Pro et Contra." This 8 & 1/2 minute piece runs the gamut of sounds. It is almost like a highlight reel of classical music since Bach. There is a lot of neo-Baroque music here (or simply music written in the Baroque style), but that is right alongside some of the most atonal serialist music ever put on paper. There are times when the cello is slapped, or when the bow is popped against the body. It is pretty wild stuff, but it is actually very good...very original. I've heard tons of that kind of stuff, but Part is good at doing it and making it actually sound like music.

Next are the symphonies: Symphony no. 1 (1964) is two movements, 16 minutes long and powerful. (Powerful is a theme that runs throughout these works.) To me, Part has always been masterful in his use of percussion (like in "Sarah Was Ninety Years Old" for example.) His use of tympani in this piece is amazing.

Symphony no. 2 is one of the more bizarre pieces I've ever heard (and probably the least memorable work on the album.) One thing that makes it memorable though is the atonal pizzicato and the use of children's squeak toys to begin the piece. It is a good work, but definately not the first thing you would want to let someone hear if you were trying to turn them on to Part's music. There is some piercing flute in this one as well.

Symphony no. 3 is the first indication of Part's genius in my opinion. Most people point to "Tabula Rasa" as the turning point of his work, and relegate "Symphony no. 3" as a transitional work. This may be the case, but all of the chaos (and bleating horns) are gone in Symphony no. 3. While it may not be as great as "Tabula Rasa" I think it certainly is a landmark work. Even from the first few bars, the work is decidedly more contemplative than his earlier work. The piece is 21 minutes long and gorgeous. The fact that it isn't performed more is criminal (of course, hardly ANY of his work is performed.) I also enjoyed conductor Neeme Jarvi's other reading of this work with the Gothenburg Symphony on Deutsche Grammaphon.

If you are looking for more of Arvo Part's contemplative works, this is not the place to look, but if you want to see some early signposts of genius in a great composer's career, I HIGHLY recommend picking up this disc.

I'm still getting acquainted with the music on this CD, but I've been particularly struck by the Second and Third Symphonies. The Second is quite amazing. The first two movements are highly atonal, and the third, beginning with a insistent ostinato drum against some haunting tonal figures from the rest of the orchestra, leads to an intense development, with increasing atonality and tone clusters, towards a climax out of which flows a peaceful setting of music of Tchaikovsky, but with a last brief episode of agony before the peaceful and tonal conclusion. The idea of appending Tchaikovsky reminds me of Berg's Violin Concerto, which is explicitly about the struggle of dying and the final peace that follows--if there is a program to the Second Symphony, it may be similar to the Berg. The Third Symphony could hardly be more different, and the only reason I'm not surprised to have never heard it anywhere is the seemingly increased aversion to 20th century classical music everywhere. It's amazing that Part would change his compositional style so quickly. I don't know the piece well yet, but it is quite tonal and very attractive, yet not at all like the Berliner Messe or Part's other more recent and better known music.

Arvo Part seems to have bifurcated the music world into those that dismiss him as a perjurer and those who look beyond occasional lapses in technique to find the spiritualist to come. This CD, finely performed by Neemi Jarvi and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, places a lot on the table for digesting. The earlier works, while tough and dissonant - especially the Cello Concerto 'Pro et contra' - explores the atonal and aural spectrum of sound (and tolerance!) yet it is among the more unique of the works. Survey the Symphonies 1, 2, and 3 is a wise programming choice. By the time we are in the final movement of the Symphony #2 we are back on terra firma with Brucknerian glows and the Symphony #3 is more in tune with Part's works that speak to the spirit. It is here in this 1971 work that we hear all the inceptions of the mystery of his later works, such as the perfect MISERERE of 1989/90.

This is a fine introductory sampler of the beginnings of a composer's genre that has matured well. Grady Harp, February 2005