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Ralph Van Raat, Piano 572525 bk Part US 27/6/11 15:43 Page 2 Zwei Sonatinen für Klavier, Op. 1, Nr. 1 (1958) 6:29 Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) the major and minor keys of A. The note-by-note affirms life in an almost unusually celebratory manner. 1 I. Allegro [!"= 126] 2:24 Piano Music progressions via scale patterns, evident in Variations 3, Written for the tenth birthday of the young Estonian girl 2 II. Larghetto [!"= 50-60] – Allegro [!"= 126] 4:05 4 and 6, reappear as ostinatos in Pärt’s well-known mentioned in the title, the work moves considerably ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is Throughout the decade, however, Pärt was gradually orchestral work Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten faster than Für Alina of exactly three decades earlier. Zwei Sonatinen für Klavier, Op. 1, Nr. 2 (1959) 5:42 become the head of the corner.’ (Matthew 21, v42). becoming more interested in medieval and Renaissance [Naxos 8.553750], written in the same year. Written unambiguously in the key of G major, it 3 I. Allegro energico [!"= 100] 1:53 composers such as Josquin des Prez, Guillaume However, with works such as Fratres (1977) [Naxos contains playful accents and rhythms. The prolonged 4 II. Largo [!"= 44] 2:14 A strikingly suitable quotation from the Bible, when Machaut and Jacob Obrecht. Their influence became 8.553750], Passio (1982) [Naxos 8.555860], Stabat harmony on the dominant, just before the end of the regarded from the perspective of Arvo Pärt’s career. increasingly evident in his compositions. Symphony No. Mater (1985) and Magnificat (1989) [Naxos 8.557299] piece, suggests hope and life expectancy. The innocent, 5 #• III. Allegro [ = 88] 1:35 With the seemingly simple harmonies, the overtly 3 (1971) [Naxos 8.554591] became one of his last for different instrumental and vocal combinations, Pärt open and all-embracing but warm quality of the music Partita, Op. 2 (1959) 7:07 melodic approach and the general absence of obvious compositions before a period of study, reflection and started to attract much attention worldwide, creating an not only reflects the soul of a young human being, but 6 I. Toccatina [!"= 112] 0:50 complexity in his scores, Pärt has caused a silent artistic silence. Its strikingly less dark tone, the return to alternative to Western European avant-garde styles. ultimately the personality of the composer behind this 7 !" revolution in contemporary music. Although fellow- tonality and the use of medieval polyphonic techniques Lamentate for piano and orchestra was written in 2002 to music. II. Fughetta [ = 108] 1:02 composers reacted with suspicion at first, Pärt’s highly foreshadowed his comeback in 1976 with the piano a commission from Tate Modern in London. It was Looking back at Arvo Pärt’s career as a composer 8 III. Larghetto [!"= 58] 3:09 characteristic style has quickly won champions both work Für Alina. conceived as an homage to the British sculptor Anish so far, it seems that the intentions and effects of his 9 IV. Ostinato [!"= 104] 2:06 from his colleagues and his audiences, resulting in a During his artistic retreat, Arvo Pärt realised that he Kapoor and his sculpture Marsyas, a work of huge music have been marked by several paradoxes. First of huge following all over the world. needed a better balance between human perception and dimensions, in which Kapoor ‘wanted to make body into all, Pärt has always tried to be in the shadow of his Variationen zur Gesundung The very first work with which Arvo Pärt officially musical presentation. According to Pärt, the essence of sky’. The sculpture struck Pärt as a confrontation with music. Pictures of him are, compared to other artists, von Arinuschka (1977) 6:39 presented himself as a composer were the Zwei truth is simple. This essence is translated in music by the mortality, and his composition became a lament for those relatively rare. Nevertheless he has become one of the 0 Variation 1: Moderato 1:18 Sonatinen, Op. 1, for piano solo, written in 1958 and connection and silence between just two notes: this who suffer from pain and hopelessness. Determining most popular and well-known composers of today. ! Variation 2 1:14 1959 consecutively during his studies at the Tallinn connection can be compared to the relationship between factors in the work are old Slavic text parameters: Second, Pärt has never wanted to solve the problem of @ Variation 3 1:07 Conservatory. Estonia at that time was still part of the two people. The most intimate messages cannot be musical phrasing, logic and accentuation mostly derive the hiatus between composer and audience in modern # Variation 4: Più mosso 0:47 Soviet Union, and the influence of Prokofiev and communicated in words; they also cannot be stated and from the number of syllables and punctuation of the Western music, nor has he intended to write for the sake $ Variation 5 1:01 Shostakovich on the young Pärt is undeniable. The therefore occur in silence. In the radically tonal and original texts. Besides the use of tintinnabuli and several of the future of Western music. His music, however, has % work, however, also foreshadows the use of twelve-tone silent Für Alina, written for a young girl moving abroad intimate moments, the work contains some strikingly resulted in a renewed appreciation by large audiences of Variation 6 1:02 methods which he would exploit less than two years for study, the two plainchant-like melodic lines can be dissonant, percussive passages and dramatic grand contemporary composition. Lastly, Arvo Pärt has ^ later; the stark dissonances and the many chromatic compared to those two people. At times they go apart, gestures, reminding one of his early style. There seems followed the quest for musical expression within the Für Alina (1976) 3:25 elements attest to this. Pärt’s interest in serial music is then they meet each other, thereby generating different no concern about musical language in this work, either microcosm of his inner self, a journey of introspection & Für Anna Maria (2006) 1:12 even clearer in the Partita, Op. 2, from 1959; the emotional interactions, perspectives and colours. The with the past or the future, but Pärt’s idiom has now rather than exposure. It has resulted in a silent but large opening of the Toccatina consists of rambling atonal individual notes are reminiscent of bell sounds, so reached an all-encompassing tonal language. The revolution in the whole macrocosm of contemporary Lamentate: Homage to Anish Kapoor and his lines. Although the later style of Pärt seems to contrast typical of the rituals of the Russian Orthodox Church in introspective moments could be interpreted as the composed music. sculpture ‘Marsyas’, for piano and orchestra (2002) 35:29 greatly with this early period, all the seeds of his later which Pärt was involved. The composer called this Apollonian or dreamy, reasoning element paralleling the Understanding the music of Arvo Pärt requires an * Minacciando 3:15 musical language are already firmly present: echoes of ringing use of notes ‘tintinnabuli’ (bells), following Greek myth of Marsyas; this music celebrates the eternal open and receptive attitude. His language is, at times, ( Spietato 3:31 early music as heard in the neo-baroque Fughetta, a each other up according to specific tonal principles. It and the indestructible. The ferocious brass and deceptively simple and familiar, but the gateway to the ) Fragile 0:57 direct focus on expression in the Larghetto, a would become a trademark of his style. percussion parts can be seen as the intoxicated Dionysian colours and messages behind the musical surface can ¡ predilection for the ostinato form in the last movement In the Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka aspect of the myth, as a symbol of pain or death. The only be encoded by an unprecedented focus and Pregando 5:08 and a general economy of material with an omnipresent (Variations on the Recovery of Arinuschka), written in latter is an important factor in much of Pärt’s music, as concentration. This focus can only originate from total ™ Solitudine – stato d’animo 5:31 focus on melody. 1977, a similar concentration on the interaction between the moment of death is the moment ‘after one really silence, which will only be broken when it necessarily £ Consolante 1:11 From 1960 onwards, Pärt reverted to serialism and two lines can be found. The influences of early music discovers the truth. At that time things can happen which needs to be. His music then just conveys the essentials: ¢ Stridendo 1:24 he wrote some large-scale orchestral works in this style, are evident by their canonic use. The independent have not come about during a whole lifetime.’ the essentials of life and death. ∞ Lamentabile 5:14 such as Nekrolog (1960) and the Symphony No. 1 different speeds of both lines, together with very precise While Lamentate is preoccupied with death, his § Risolutamente 2:46 (1961). Although condemned by Soviet officials, these pedalling instructions, create many consonant and most recent work for piano, Für Anna Maria (2006), Ralph van Raat ¶ Fragile e conciliante 6:32 works became well-known amongst other composers. dissonant colours within a simple tonal context of both 8.572525 2 3 8.572525 4 8.572525 572525 bk Part US 27/6/11 15:43 Page 5 Ralph van Raat The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic Chief Conductor: Michael Schønwandt Pianist and musicologist Ralph van Raat studied the piano with Ton Hartsuiker and Willem Brons at the Conservatory of The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic is a flexible orchestra, the PÄRT Amsterdam and Musicology at the University of Amsterdam. He size of which can be varied to perform Baroque, contemporary music and concluded both studies with distinction in 2002 and 2003.
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