Part: Summa

Arvo Part (Artist), Paavo Jarvi (Artist), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 23, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00005MNCL
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,243 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At a mere five minutes, Arvo Pärt's Summa is actually the shortest composition on this CD. But, for its sheer, austere beauty, the work makes a fitting introduction to this orchestral disc. Pärt's trademark "tintinnabulation" style is in full effect on this sublime recording. Each of these works sounds simple and minimalist, yet also achingly profound. In Pärt's Symphony No. 3 (the earliest piece here, dating from 1971), the roots of his groundbreaking technique are just beginning to take shape: the ringing of bells, the calculated tension, and the hints of early music all add to the three-movement work's drama. For Trisagion and Silouans Song, the pace slows down, and the string orchestra resonates like a haunting church organ (it's easy to sense the enormous influence of Pärt's Eastern Orthodox religion, even on these instrumental compositions). Paavo Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra are naturals at interpreting the contemplative music of their country's most famous composer, and the sound quality throughout is excellent. There are far too many Pärt CDs to recommend, but this one will easily serve as an excellent introduction to the composer's magical sonic universe. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serene, but Sophisticated, May 31, 2003

By 

Daniel Johnson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Part: Summa (Audio CD)

It's hard to imagine a finer recording of Pärt's orchestral works. The selection of pieces is excellent (and quite extensive), the orchestra is well-balanced and well-blended, and the tempi are chosen with the utmost sensitivity. The damp, cathedralesque ambience of the recording may tend to drain some of the expressive quality out of the strings, but these solemn, mystical works sound very much at home in such an environment. I prefer these recordings even to the famous 'Tabula Rasa' disc on ECM.

Most of these pieces are in Pärt's minimalistic "tinntinnabuli" style, but the 3rd Symphony will be a pleasant surprise to those listeners familiar only with that side of Arvo Pärt's oeuvre. It's a sprawling, full-orchestral setting of archaic polyphony, rich and "cinematic" in the best sense of the word.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!!, December 24, 2005

By 

A. Vetter "dschlver" (NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Part: Summa (Audio CD)

I have enjoyed the music of Part for a long time.
Fratres and the Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten are wonderful pieces.
In many ways, I prefer this version of the Cantus over Paavo's father, Neeme.
They are both wonderful performances.
Paavo, in his way, makes this piece more cathartic. The srings are so great.
And, for me, the real find was the Third Symphony. The elements of chant, monastic melody and simplicity were astounding.
Heavenly music!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music for the current epoch.........beautifully conveyed to disc, December 12, 2008

By 

John Ashford (Albany Western Australia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Part: Summa (Audio CD)

I grew up, matured, and developed a career in the seventies and eighties. Living in one of the nicest countries in the western world, relatively free from grief and trauma, I could never have countenanced the gamut of emotions Arvo Part, who was growing and developing in a more troubled part of the world at the same time, was able to impart. In my early sixties, I find his music really does talk about the world and it's tribulations as it moved through the last three decades.

At once elegant, minimalist, stark and incredibly poised, the music of Arvo Part is able to sum up the current human dilemna in an eloquent and relevant manner. I decided to purchase a series of his albums from Amazon in order to round out my collection after hearing his pieces broadcast frequently on ABC FM, our national classical music broadcaster. I am incredibly glad that I did.

The recording is open and transparent. The performance is suitably sensual and measured. Thus, the music as composed is allowed to emerge; and the music is very impassioned and arousing as a result.

................... stunning stuff!