Arvo Pärt: Works For Choir
Cugate Classics

While ECM has issued a substantial number of Arvo Pärt recordings and significantly broadened awareness of the Estonian composer (b. 1935), other labels have also issued recordings of his material; a case in point, this recent choral set from Cugate Classics constitutes a worthy addition to any Pärt devotee's collection. All of the works performed derive from the years 1989 to 1991 and were written long after Für Alina (1976) introduced the tintinnabuli style with which he's associated. In simplest terms, the style unites the horizontal and vertical axes of music in treating diatonic melody and the tonic triad as the foundation; reduced to its elemental essence, the typical Pärt composition is harmonious, austere, and ethereal, and, in its loudest passages, reverberates magnificently; the composer himself has referred to the three notes of the triad as bell-like, hence the term tintinnabulation (tintinnabulum is Latin for “a bell”).

Among the five pieces performed (one a seven-movement work) is the well-known Summa, but the recording is anything but a ‘Greatest Hits' package. Under the artistic direction of Vaclovas Augustinas, the Vilnius Municipal Choir Jauna Muzika has assembled a superb set-list of familiar and less-familiar pieces. Founded in 1989, the choir has been the recipient of multiple awards, including six grand prizes at international choral competitions around the world.

Written in 1990 and revised a year later, The Beatitudes provides an arresting entry point, especially when the choir's accompanied by organ. Sung in English, the work is based on text from Jesus's sermon on the mount in "Matthew" (5:5-12) where godly virtues are enumerated one by one (“Blessed are the poor in spirit: / For theirs is the kingdom of heaven …”). In keeping with the nature of the text, the words are delivered recitatively, but interest is bolstered through the use of changing harmonic keys, such that the central pitch continually rises and tension increases as a result. Adding to the work's impact, a bold organ cadenza brings the piece to a climactic close.

At the other end is Sieben Magnificat - Antiphonen, a concert setting of antiphons sung in the Roman Catholic liturgy during evening prayer on the days leading up to Christmas Eve. Helping to unite them, each begins with an appeal to Christ, “O Wisdom,” “O Morning Star,” and so on. All seven parts evidence the tintinnabuli style, yet each also possesses an individuating character. Whereas the choir in its full beatific glory intones throughout the opening “O Weisibett,” for instance, the second, “O Adonai,” accentuates drone-like singing in the lower register. In contrast to the harmonious tone of the first, “O Sproß Aus Isais Wurzel” unsettles with forays into dissonant climes. Similarly, “O Schlüssel Davids” sings its worship song to Christ at a declamatory pitch; immediately thereafter, “O Morgenstern” offers its prayer to Christ delicately.

Many of the settings are quintessential Pärt, among them the haunting Nun Eile Ich Zu Euch…, Magnificat, and Summa. In addition to being impeccably balanced structurally, the latter work is one of his most hypnotic due to the incessantly rocking motion of its repetitions and the intertwining of its polyphonic vocal parts. Often a performance is marked by dramatic dynamic contrasts, with the voices swelling from a subdued, angelic pitch to a high-intensity roar so powerful it verges on unearthly. For the entirety of the forty-one-minute recording, the Vilnius Municipal Choir Jauna Muzika, with its precise intonation and pure, crystalline sound, shows itself to be an ideal interpreter of Pärt's material.

September 2020