Pärt: Variations for the Healing of Arinushka (Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka)

Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt is almost exclusively associated with his later works. Born in 1935, his early music was very much ‘avant-garde’ in style. In the 1970s, he increasingly found his inspiration in medieval religious music, both western and eastern European. This first transpired in his Für Alina for piano. It features the telling low tempo and two layer structure which were to become trademarks of his later works. Pärt further extended his so-called tintinnabuli (bell) style in small-scale pieces like the different versions of ‘Spiegel im Spiegel’ and ‘Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka’, although this last piece has ‘classical’ features as well. This CD shows an aspect of Arvo Pärt which is seldom heard: his small-scale chamber music works. As such this recording is a valuable addition to the material already available on the market.

Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel

Piano Icons for the 21st Century

Pourquoi je suis si sentimental

Post-avant-garde Piano Music from the ex-Soviet Union

Minimal Piano Collection

This unusual collection is dedicated to a very popular style: minimalist music. The style has evolved from austere, almost strict repetition to a more varied and free approach to material and technique. The set includes works for solo piano by most of the famous ‘minimalist’ composers covering three generations from Cage, through Riley and Glass to Adams and Nyman.