Customer Reviews

Arvo Pärt: Litany

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of all Arvo Pärt's more recent releases, "Litany" probably provides the best illustration to contemporary composers ("serious" and "pop", for want of better delimitations) that music can be intensely cyclic without being compromisingly repetitive or monotonous. The title track is a lengthy religious work that evokes one of the Hilliard Ensemble's most passionate vocal deliveries and progressively animates a fairly simple melody into a stirring crescendo. "Psalom" is a quietly dignified and meditative piece that confirms Pärt's mastery of musical concepts that contemporary pretenders would conveniently call "ambient". But the album's highlight is undoubtedly "Trisagion", where the composer conjours an entirely new range of timbres and textures from a string section and occasionally fools our ears into believing that they are wind instruments.

I was very skeptical of Part, having seen rave reviews (from Michael Stipe of all people), as I tend to discount rave reviews. I heard a few of his pieces over the years without being at all impressed. If you like JS Bach or Rachmaninoff's "Vespers," then it didn't seem like Part was offering anything substantially new or innovative. Then I heard "Litany" and was blown away by the time the first vocalist intoned "Oh Lord." This music is like a divine nuclear explosion, the sound of a soul calling out for God from the depths of its being (de profundis). Silly descriptions aside, "Litany" is among the most stunning, beautiful compositions ever created by human hands. Catholic, Muslim, Lutheran, Ahmadiyan, Sikh, Buddhist, Athiest, Wiccan, or whatever, "Litany" will make a believer out of you. Having learned to hear Part, I've also come to admire other works, even those I previously disliked.

I enjoy classical music, but I know too little to discuss it in a technical level. I understand that Part is regarded with some snobbery in some classical circles, who considered him some sort of neomedieval hack. I beg to disagree. I found this work amazing and stirring and spiritual. There are some similarities with the minimalist school, but this is a work that strikes you at an emotional level, unless the works by Glass, Reich et al.

LITANY collects three works by Arvo Part from the mid-1990s. They are all related to Eastern Orthodoxy and, in my opinion, form Part's first truly great religious composition.

"Litany" is an English-language setting of the 24 prayers of St. John Chrysostom for each hour of the day and night. Chrysostom's is one of the greatest litanies in Christianity and an example of the skill with words which gained him the epithet "Golden-Mouthed". With its continuous cycling between softer lulls and loud, proud entreaties the work might be best compared to Giya Kancheli's "Styx". The work is performed by the Tallin Chamber Orchestra with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Tonu Kaljuste. However, the four main vocal parts are performed by singers from the Hilliard Ensemble, native speakers of English who can really bring out a most euphonious rendition.

The latter two works on the disc are performed by the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Saulius Sondeckis. "Psalom", written in 1985 and dedicated to the music publisher Alfred Schlee, and revised in 1995 is a relatively brief instrumental appreciation of the Psalter. It is a pretty work, but brief and quickly forgotten after the following piece. "Trisagion" was written in 1992 for the 500-year anniversary of the parish of the Prophet Elias in Ilomantsi and revised in 1995. It is inspired by the Orthodox hymn of that name ("Thrice-holy"), but is purely instrumental. It requires great care and energy on the lower strings, and the orchestra pulls this off admirably.

I have criticized Part's work of the 1970's and 1980's as technically brilliant but spiritually dead, but in the 1990's, as he began using concrete concepts of his Orthodox faith instead of fuzzy and nebulous mentions of "spirituality", his oeuvre has approached the profound depths of Christian spirituality common to the work of Olivier Messiaen and Sofia Gubaidulina. This style culminated in his 1998 setting of the massive Kanon Pokajanen penitence text, though he subsequently seems to have moved on to yet another style.

Unfortunately ECM, as usual, gives us only about 50 minutes of music. It would be nice to have one more worked placed on the disc, since these releases aren't cheap. The liner notes are also somewhat disappointing, giving only details of the recording and the text of "Litany" with no biographical notes or musicological analysis.

While Part might be best approached through his tintinnabuli phase of the 1970s and 1980s, of which TABULA RASA (also on ECM) is a shining example, his work only got much better in the 1990's. This is a disc worth hearing for those who have already come to like Part's music, and anyone looking for powerfully Christian contemporary compositions.

I experienced spiritual renewal in listening to this CD. The notes contain the text of LITANY and a brief explanation that it is "prays of St John Chrysostom for each hour of the day and night". The Hilliard Ensemble produces here, yet again, a compelling performance. The libretto being provided, I find it enhances my appreciation to read along. This is a powerful piece of music by which I am deeply moved. PSALOM refers, natuarally, to the psalter. In keeping with the theme of the first and third pieces, this may also be meant to accompany a prayer of supplication. The main theme is introduced by a solitary stringed instrument. This same figure is repeated either in solo or with the rest of the orchestra. The timing is very near that of a relaxed breathing pattern, and the spaces promote reflection, and anticipation. At approximately five minutes into the piece, a single note is sounded and sustained till completion. This event resolves the piece, perhaps, to witness the answer of prayer. I experienced calm at the conclusion of PSALOM. There are no explanations given in the liner notes, thus 4 stars. Please allow me to provide what I know about the third piece. TRISAGION is a hymm of devotion to the Blessed Trinity. It is the official prayer of that Order, otherwise known as the Trinitarians. This devotion has been recited by them and their affiliates for centuries in praise of the Trinity. This is a prayer of supplication which includes the Pater Noster (Luke 11:1-4). I experience a sense of urgency in this piece, as one in need of help who is calling out to their LORD. The spiritual influence of these works is genuine and inspiring to me. If you are interested in music based on traditional, spiritual themes, this CD will be interesting to you.

I love late Arvo Pärt, and this CD features some of his best later works. It starts off with the hauntingly beautiful, spiritually drenched meditative choral work "Litany". This is a setting of a prayer (in English, strangely enough for an Estonian composer) of a prayer by St John Chrysostom in music that reflects Pärt's unique style blending some of the best from the traditions of Eastern Orthodox and western chanting traditions -- mainly polyphony but also with some elements of plainchant. The effect is stunning, and although I love most of Pärt's choral works, this is definitely one of my favorites.

The two remaining pieces are for string orchestra but manage to carry over the general sacred atmosphere from "Litany" in an instrumental context. "Psalom" (i.e. Psalm) is a sparse string quartet that uses repetition and pauses to great effect in creating a spiritual/mystical atmosphere.

"Trisagion" is a reworking of a standard prayer in Orthodox tradition in instrumental form for string orchestra using Pärt's "tintinnabula" style, which relies on the use of triads to maintain its tonal center. The traditional Trisagion is as follows: "Holy God, Holy and Strong, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us." The this is also the origin of the "have mercy on us" refrains in the Catholic tradition as well.

I can't say I could make a direct intuitive connection between this music and the Trisagion prayer just by listening to it, but it is certainly another Pärt piece that exudes spirituality.

Highly recommended, but a shame the whole CD is only about 42 minutes!

Arvo Pärt is represented on this excellent CD by three works - two works for string orchestra (Psalom and Trisagion) and one work that defies description. 'Litany', for ATTB soloists, chorus and orchestra is one of those works that do not even seem composed, so fragile and so penetratingly mystical that the music seems to just emerge from the universe. How the Estonian contemporary composer Pärt is able to achieve this is likely something we will never completely understand. We can understand the concept - a litany is a repetition of words or themes used in churches as chants , this particular litany is set to the prayers of St John Chrysostom, a man who lived with extreme asceticism and became a hermit in about 375; he spent the next two years continually standing, scarcely sleeping, and committing the Bible to memory. And perhaps it is this purity of asceticism that imbues this work. The voices of the Hilliard Ensemble glow with a haloed radiance and the orchestral writing is minimal but supportive of these sounds in an otherworldly manner. The ensemble - the Hilliard Ensemble and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra -are conducted by Tonu Kaljuste. The sonics are courtesy of a staff of engineers whose contribution almost equals that of the conductor. It is an extended nearly twenty-four minute meditation that will remain with the listener forever.

The works for string orchestra are also very strong. The 'Psalom' pulsates in the manner of Arvo Pärt's extended repetition of chords that change almost imperceptibly, the extensions of silence being equally important tot he structure (if that term dared be used) of the work. For this listener it is the stronger of the two works of orchestra, the Trisalom having moments when the ecstasy of the mood is broken or interrupted, damaging the meditative state. These two works are performed by Saulius Sondeckis conducting the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. One again, the sonics are stunning. Grady Harp, June 10

I can still recall the first time I heard the music of Arvo Pärt: I was driving home just after 11 p.m. one Sunday night in 1984 after a 12-hour weekend shift as a security guard at a factory, a job I held for five years while in graduate school. I turned on my car radio and heard music unlike any I had ever heard. I was fascinated, nearly hypnotized. I wanted the music to go on forever, and I would have been willing to keep driving forever just to keep hearing it. Who could write music like this!? The announcer came on at the end of the piece and said that this was Tabula Rasa by Arvo Pärt, from a new recording just released on the ECM label.

Twelve years and several ECM recordings later, there was the release of Litany, a fascinating piece that blends the voices of the Hilliard Ensemble with chorus and chamber orchestra to produce a sonic tapestry vibrant in color and rich in texture, a work of surpassing beauty that confirms Pärt's stature as one of the premier composers of this century. I cannot recommend it too highly. Also on this disk are two pieces for chamber orchestra, both inspired by religious texts, and both quite beautiful and moving.

Litany is a disk you could put in the CD player of your car, hit the Repeat button, and drive on into the night forever--fascinated, hypnotized...

Arvo Pärt is my favorite living composer, and a serious contender for my favorite composer of any time period. I have about twenty CDs of his music, containing about 70 of his works. And of these CDs, "Litany" is one of my very favorites. This unassuming, somewhat overlooked CD is a real gem, containing three of Pärt's pieces.

The first is the best, in my opinion. "Litany", clocking in at over 20 minutes and scored for chorus and orchestra, is a haunting, beautiful piece. It is generally structured as one long crescendo, starting off quiet and haunting, and building, building, building to a glorious choral climax that leads into a heart-stopping orchestral passage before dipping down to an otherworldly finish. In my eyes, this work, not only in its range, but also in its orchestration, anticipates another of Pärt's recent masterpieces, "Lamentate". This work alone makes the somewhat steep price of this CD worth it.

The second work, "Psalom", for strings, is the least interesting, in my book, and more along the lines of the meditative music for which Pärt is most well known. But despite being the low point of the album - though not a bad piece by any means - it's beautiful, and in the context of the CD, is a perfect counterbalance to "Litany".

Finally, the CD ends with another piece for string orchestra, "Trisagion", at over ten minutes long. This piece is more involved, dare I say deeper than its predecessor, and a satisfying end to the CD.

A great disc. Highly, highly recommended.

Starting from the perfomances, of the three pieces, they are completely satisfactory. These are not technically demanding pieces, by conventional standards, but the difficulty lies in the atmosphere that has to be created. And that is being achieved. Therefore there is a meaning in these pieces, which follow the general formulas of Arvo Part's latest output. Sometimes music becomes extremely simple, but it is always engaging in each own way. I reccomend this recording, it is a different "note" that can move, a total antithesis to our manic rythms in everyday life.