Pärt: Da pacem Domine

“Recent compositions, while not relinquishing the ethereal beauty we associate with Pärt, have seemed less confident in their serenity… A sense of anxiety pervades the oldest piece… Mein Weg… and sometimes, as with In Principio and La Sindone, there are episodes of almost bruising physicality which is a little shocking in the context of Pärt's mature music.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2009 *****

“These recent works demonstrate a certain expansion in Pärt's horizons. They still dwell in the niche of lapidary minimalism, but while they keep faith with his trademark 'tintinnabulatory' style, they now use it with flexibility and flow.
The dramatic directness of In principio, at 20 minutes the longest work on this CD, has one thinking of Janácek or even the Icelander Jón Leifs, not to speak of its candidly neo- Bachian progressions; exhilaration emanates from this score, along with piety and lamentation.
Of the other works for chorus and orchestra, Cecilia, vergine romana commemorates in more restrained terms the martyrdom of the third-century Roman noblewoman adopted 1200 years later as the patron saint of music, while the five-minute Da pacem Domine is a statuesque tribute to the victims of the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings.
La Sindone ('The Shroud'), for trumpet, trombone, four percussionists and strings, leaves more room for listeners to find their own symbolic meaning in its frequent silences. Mein Weg ('My Path'), for 14 strings and percussion, is nothing to do with autobiography but a response to an extract from the French-Jewish poet Edmond Jabès's Livre des questions concerning the vissicitudes of life, and the disc ends with an austere memorial to Lennart Meri, president of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Superbly performed and recorded” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Superbly performed and recorded, this CD is self-recommending to anyone interested in Pärt's recent work and his tentative ways forward from doctrinaire schematicisim.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2009

“Tonu Kaljuste conducts lustrous singing and playing of these and three shorter works, which include a moving response to the Madrid bombings.” Sunday Times, 19th April 2009 ****

“The little string elegy Für Lennart in Memoriam, composed for the funeral of the Estonian president in 2006, is the most convincing piece here: eloquent in a simple, undemonstrative way, nostalgic without being mawkish, touching without being sentimental.” The Guardian, 17th April 2009 ***

“a miracle of deceptive simplicity.” The Times

“The Estonian Chamber Choir under Paul Hillier sings everything with near miraculous precision and delicate dedication… an aural delight.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2006 ****

“This collection showcases four compositions from this decade alongside some earlier works, most of which have been revised, as is Pärt's habit, within the past 15 years. While his methodology has remained much the same, Pärt admitted a greater harmonic and textural richness over that period, and this relative lushness is superbly realised by the EPC Choir without ever betraying the fundamental asceticism of Pärt's sound.
The album opens with the most recent piece, Da pacem Domine (2004), a typical work not least because of its slow harmonic speed coupled with increasingly intense light and colour. It contrasts with Salve regina (2001-2) which, as Hillier comments, could almost be 'a dream sequence from a film about a peasant community' in the early passages. Indeed, at first hearing one could almost confuse it with something Preisner might have written for Kieslowski, although there are enough characteristic chords and intervals to mark it out as Pärt. The Psalms (1984), with their unusually strong Slavonic tinge, again show the variety Pärt can achieve within restricted means. As always, Hillier and his colleagues have done Pärt proud. This beautiful release is another compelling illustration of the emotional and textural intensity central to the composer's art.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Given the strict limits on the material and techniques that Pärt permits himself, it is remarkable that his work continues to sound fresh and original. This beautiful release is another compelling illustration of the emotional and textural intensity central to his art. As always, Hillier and his colleagues have done Pärt proud.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards 2006

“In an age of anxiety and conflict, this music looks to higher levels of consciousness to provide assurance. Regardless of whether you share such faith, there is no doubting the beauty of the music of the sincerity and conviction of these excellent performances.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2009 ****

“…there are moments of understated beauty, notably in Valentin Silvestrov's Lullaby for violin and piano. Written to commemorate the centenary of Tchaikovsky's death, a series of haunting melodic variations are woven in the violin around a descending chaconne-like chord progression, with the piano progressively reinforcing each melodic statement.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2009

“The main piece on this latest release has passages of visceral power unheard in Pärt's work for almost three decades. Lamentate was inspired by Anish Kapoor's gigantic sculpture Marsyas, which filled the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London. Confronted with this monumental work, Pärt felt he was standing before his own body after death. 'I had a strong sense of not being ready to die,' he says, 'and was moved to ask myself what I could still accomplish in the time left to me.' Lamentate is intended as a lament for the living, 'struggling with the pain and hopelessness of this world'. The solo piano part can be seen as the first person narrative of an individual, beset by challenges represented by the orchestra, which uses sharper textures, more dramatic gestures and a broader range of colours than we usually expect from this most controlled and ascetic of composers. It makes one eager to know what his next step will be.
In Da pacem Domine (2004), for which Sarah Leonard extends the Hilliard's range, Pärt takes a ninth-century antiphon as his startingpoint, floating the serene, radiant lines of this prayer for peace with characteristic airy grace, slowly opening up the textures and exploring some tart harmonies before returning to a final consoling chord.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“After a subterranean rumble, a sorrowful fanfare makes way for an ascent of the solo piano keyboard, and a shuddering orchestral climax that sets the tolling of alarm bells against a Mahlerian funeral march...Impressive performances, a seductive ECM recording, and works that no-one with an interest in contemporary art and music can afford to miss.” Andrew McGregor, bbc.co.uk, 7th November 2005