Customer Reviews

Arvo Pärt: Fratres

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Perhaps these aren't the great defining recordings of Part's works. They're certainly good enough. This CD served as my introduction to minimalist music - it was a lot easier to take a chance on a $5 Naxos CD than the $18 ECM recordings of Part's music that I love so very much.

Part is frequently dismissed by certain factions in the classical music community as "New Age Tripe". It is true that his music embodies some of the quiet and contemplative as well as non-traditional elements of some new age compositions, but Part's music is also imbued with an utter dedication to spirituality that is clearly evident in "Cantus in Memory of Bejamin Britten", the last track on the CD. Part has also been called a "Holy Minimalist", a composer whose music is deeply connected to his religious faith. Even one not familiar with the composer or his history will use words like "simple", "meditative", "reverent" and "serene" to describe his works.

Part's music is beguilingly simple. There are deliberate silences that are simply a joy to listen to. Complexity is simply not present in this music - each piece is stripped to the essence of it's musicality.

It's an inspiring thing to hear.

For listeners already familiar with Part's music, this disc offers welcome new interpretations of some of his more recorded works at a price that I, at least, would find difficult to pass up.

I cannot really find fault with this disc. For a new listener, there is a wonderful sampling of listenable music from a still-living classical composer. For those who have enjoyed other music by Part, this is perhaps one of the best "bargain" CDs I have ever found.

this is a wonderul little CD- you would think that 6 variations of the same piece would get tedious, but each has a character of it's own. breaking them up are the jaunty "summa for strings" and heatbreaking cantus for benjamin britten. this compares well with the ECM recordings from the mid 80's, and is a bargain at the price.

I first heard Part on my car radio and actually parked my car to hear the entire piece. It was Fratres for strings and percussion, found on this CD. I had never heard such wonderful music before and as a Catholic I find myself strongly attracted to the sprituality that embues every note. This is a bargain CD with terrific performances, all very different, that will leave you in tears at the beauty. I don't know what is is about Part; he's a minimalist that touches something very profound with his music and this CD does justice to that. Buy it!

Arvo Part's brilliance is marked by his departure from the sugary and over-polished neo-romanticist norm. Part's music is always sincere and never compromising. Listening to Fratres (Brothers) is like an excursion into Part's deeply emotional and heavily religious musical world, where everything is represented by a primal, serialized "tintinnabular" musical form. I'm surprised that this CD costs so little. Any fans of the 20th century music should add this disc to their collection.

Part's music defies classification. We can call him Minimalist, yet much of his material expands beyond that genre--almost to the point of neo-romanticism, but not really. At first hearing, Part, is inoffensive and strangely luring. Soon the listener is sitting in front of the speaker asking for more and more an more...like an addictive and degrading drug.

Well, not really much like an addictive and degrading drug at all...more like extremely likable music. While not overwhelmingly profound, Part is never shallow, either. "Fratres" is actually several different pieces written from roughly the same material, and arranged for several different types of ensembles. I have been particularly enraptured by the setting for cello and piano, which displays some rather virtuosic playing.

The performances on this disc are all outstanding--it is odd how such obscure orchestras like the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra are snubbed for bigger but by no means better names.

The orchestra is out of tune on several of the pieces, which is too bad because the composer is genius - just performances are lacking. And the recording itself is very thin. This CD could have used a professional mastering job, sorry to say.

Perhaps a fellow reviewer was partly right in describing this recording as 'rough', but for me the unusual drive and extra muscle in this recording is both different and refreshing. I know that Part's music is best delivered in a reverent, hushed and very restrained manner (I have many recordings in this vein), but a performance which doesn't lack grit, or have all the passion bled from it, is a welcome alternative.
Another strength of this recording is the development/reworking of the 'Fratres' theme across many variations, including strings, percussion,violin, harp; string quartet; cello and piano; eight cellos (!), and even wind octet. The quality of the playing may be a little rough in places, but there is compensation in the spirit of the playing, and the way in which the 'Fratres' piece develops through repetition and reworking to establish a haunting and almost mesmeric quality. The Benjamin Britten 'Cantus' and its tolling bells, seals this unusually passionate performance with an appropriately balanced tranquillity.
Perhaps not for those who insist on their Part in 'super smooth and restrained' mode, but a little variety can sometimes help us hear music anew, and other hidden aspects of its character. This is an inexpensive experiment, which may just surprise you!

Arvo Part rarely ever slips up on any of his releases, and this collection is another great release. It comprises mostly of renditions of Fratres, some of which are arguably necessary for the piece to have everything it has to say gotten out, but some are a little less exciting than others. We all know which version of Fratres succeeds the most completely...The solo violin on track two is probably the most crystallized emotion of all of Part's tintinnabuli pieces. However, other versions are also interesting...Cello and Piano and String Quartet are also nice renditions. But the album is exhausting to listen to all in one place. There is such a thing as too much Fratres, even for Part fans. The other three pieces in the collection are equally as notable and could have been given as much attention. Festina Lente is a wonderfully tragic piece, while Summa is a bit more abrasive but equally emotional. The collection is clinched with the classic recording of Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, probably the finest tintinnabuli piece. Part composes simply wonderfully here, cascading the strings down towards a watery abyss where all of our emotions rest; fear, sadness, happiness, anger, love. It is all consolidated at the bottom, and it is a pleasure to reach it. This might not be the best Part collection to date, but fans of Fratres who want to hear the piece given more attention couldn't go wrong with this.

There have been several reviews knocking the intonation on some of these pieces. Personally I love it. Most western ears are not used to anything but 12 tone equal temperament and think that anything outside of it is just bad musicianship. It is not. The way this is performed reminds the listener that they are not listening to crystalline harmonics hovering in the timeless void of eternity, but interesting human beings rubbing horse hair on gut strings with fleshy fingertips! It humanizes Fratres in a way that adds another level of fragility to a composition whose beauty is in its delicateness. The fragility of being alive. Listen to violinist Alexander Skwortsow play Messiaen and you'll understand.

3 1/2 stars

The repetition throughout the 6 variations on this theme do become tiresome upon further listening to this album as a whole; however, the different implementations of this theme are justified due to the subtle changes found throughout that somehow make this minimalist theme flourish with progressive subtlties. The interspersed 3 remaining tracks do a great deal to enhance the album on the whole, breaking the pace from the profound, yet tiresome thematic experiment. Reforming my belief that modern classical music can still retain a sense of majesty, yet making a spiritual connection the likes no other composer has ventured, Avro Part is for anyone who enjoys the truely intense silence of sacredness, but this album should be an unlikely starting point.