Customer Reviews

Pärt: Fratres

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Arvo Part is one of the only composers (if not the only one) I can think of where a CD containing six versions (albeit with different instrumentation) of the same piece is not boring or pretentious.

In addition to "Fratres" six times, we are treated to three other pieces as well. (I will comment more on them later.)

"Fratres" the obvious centerpiece of this album is a piece that roughly runs about 10 minutes and is incredibly rich in material as to score it for a plethora of different instruments is refreshing instead of frustrating. The various combinations offered here are for: 1. strings & percussion; 2. violin, strings & percussion; 3. wind octet & percussion; 4. eight cellos; 5. string quartet; 6. cello and piano.

I like the producers choice to put versions one and two next to each other (with the only difference being the "solo" violinist.) You can tell how much that one instrument's line really changes up the piece. Additionally that soloist uses a lot of pizzacato and it reinvigorates the piece. The version for wind octet is probably the most bizarre of all. It sounds like it uses strings and an organ. A testament both to Part's writing and the performers skills. The version for eight cellos is quite rich, showing once agains Part's compositional prowess, but also showing the great range of the cello (its my favorite instrument in the western orchestra.) The version for string quartet is the least compelling of bunch in my opinion. Not because Part can't write for quartet, but this piece just calls for more. The version for cello and piano is a nice way to close out the record, its probably my favorite version of all.

In addition to "Fratres" we are treated to "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten" which is beautiful...a fitting tribute to a brilliant composer (I'm told Part was quite fond of his music.) If this doesn't bring tears to your eyes...I don't know what will. This piece (more than "Fratres") is what people expect more from Part, the somber, yet joyous and ethereal tones with bells pealing. Its what the Eastern Orthodox describe as "joyful sadness."

"Summa" is just gorgeous, that's the best I can give you ;)

"Festina Lente" is a dramatic piece with swells of contrasting emotion that some movie maker will eventually steal turning Arvo Part onto millions of unsuspecting people.

Although this album is geared towards "Fratres," Part's "Silouan's Song" would have been a nice inclusion here as well.

I wouldn't recommend this as the starting spot for Part's music, but its still a fine listen. (To start with Part, I would recommend "Litany" "Miserere" or "Symphony no. 3")

I just got this CD in search of the "Fratres for wind octet and percussion." I was braced for some trying repetition, even though the recording also includes my very first Part piece, "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten," and two others, "Summa" and "Festina Lente."

I was wrong. The 79-minute recording is sublime. I was constantly taken by surprise in the different realizations of the basic "Fratres" materials. The "Cantus," "Summa" and "Festina Lente" were added, not to break up the monotony, but to enhance the variety of the CD.

This CD will now join the precious few I listen to when life simply ceases to make sense and I am in desperate need for centering and grounding. (The recording of mystic minimalist works by the Chilingirian String Quartet is one of them. The achingly slow late Bernstein recording of the Barber "Adagio for Strings" is another.)

The Fratres of Pärt is a wonderful piece of minimal contemporary music. I like the Fratres series because it they have a serene but though penetrating harmony, It's just like instrumental choir music with an immense polyphony. Pärt throws with voices in this piece. It's also a prove of his faboulous tintinabully-composing style. Together with the other pieces, Pärt delivers us a freezing album which has an enormous impact on you in silent moments of your life. According to me the I Fiammingi version is one of the best available, so I don't know why you shouldn't buy it. Its heavenly gregorian alike voices together with the sharp contemporary dissonant harmony make a unique artwork of it.

Composer Arvo Part is problably the most compelling composer of the last decade, and the "Fratres" count as one of his best works. They are not for every listener, though, as their slow pace and repetitive patterns (rendered even more repetitive by the fact that they appear ten times here in different versions) set a very particular mood. Werthen's interpretation emphasises the solemn and sometimes "marble cold" aspect of one of Part's most minimalist work (although he may not be considered a minimalist himself). Someone whishing to introduce himself to Part's compositions may prefer to try the ECM New Series recording of "Tabula Rasa", which also contains two "Fratres" (played by Keith Jarrett) along with the "Cantus in Memoriam", and another major work (the title work).

OK, the people who made this album are officially crazy. Nine tracks, and six of them are different arrangements of Fratres! But it's a good crazy. The piece is fascinating and very evocative and draws you in. So, believe it or not, it works.

Once I had it playing while I was working on something else. Fifteen minutes after the CD ended I realized that there was no more music, although in some mysterious and enchanting way I continued to hear it in the air.

I don't know Part's work very well... and I found most of the recording to be sombre, and frequently beautiful.... But the piece "Summa (for Strings)" is regal, transcendant, other-worldly.... almost unimaginable beauty.

This has got to be one of the greatest albums ever created. It's the same piece over and over, with different orchestrations and instruments, however, this is one of the most haunting pieces of music that I have ever heard, and this album contains every version available. Arvo Part is a musical genius. You need not look any further than this album for proof of that statement. Words cannot describe how awesome it is. You simply must purchase it.

It's immediately apparent why Pärt is so popular among laypeople despite being a scary contemporary composer; his work draws heavily upon very familiar sounds and techniques and refers to familiar styles and tradition. His work is wonderfully meditative, evocative of both or either medieval chant and Messiaen in its timelessness. Each piece has a single, smooth contour of dynamics from the beginning to the end, shapely and well-crafted... this is a wonderful CD for profound relaxation.

Readers who enjoy the music of Arvo Pärt will want to pick up this new Telarc recording that features six different version of Fratres along with three other Pärt compositions. If you like Fratres, you will enjoy hearing the different sonorities of the various arrangements; however, if you do not like this music, this is obviously not the disk for you. All in all, a musically rewarding recording in excellent Telarc sound, and Telarc deserves praise for being bold enough to release such a collection.

The best recordings of the greatest piece of music EVER written period