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557299 bk Pärt 26/07/2004 12:39pm Page 12 heaven. Arvo Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. PÄRT Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Berliner Messe Amen. Magnificat • Summa @ Magnificat @ Magnificat Magnificat anima mea Dominum. My soul doth magnify the Lord: Elora Festival Singers and Orchestra Et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo. and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae: For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden. ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent For behold, from henceforth, all generations Noel Edison omnes generationes. shall call me blessed. Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est: For he that is mighty hath magnified me: et sanctum nomen ejus. and holy is his Name. Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies And his mercy is on them that fear him timentibus eum. throughout all generations. Fecit potentiam in brachio suo: He hath shewed strength with his arm: dispersit superbos he hath scattered the proud mente cordis sui. in the imagination of their hearts. Deposuit potentes de sede, He hath put down the mighty from their seat: et exaltavit humiles. and hath exalted the humble and meek. Esurientes implevit bonis: he hath filled the hungry with good things: et divites dimisit inanes. and the rich he hath sent empty away. Suscepit Israel puerum suum, He remembering his mercy recordatus misericordiae suae. hath holpen his servant Israel: Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros, as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham et semini ejus in saecula. Abraham and his seed, for ever. Gloria Patri, et Filio, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, et Spiritui Sancto. and to the Holy Ghost. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. world without end. Amen. 8.557299 12 557299 bk Pärt 26/07/2004 12:39pm Page 2 Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem Who for us men, and for our salvation Berliner Messe descendit de cælis. came down from heaven. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit Born in Paide, Estonia on 11th September 1935, Arvo Composed in 1977 and revised in 1996, Cantate ex Maria Virgine: et homo factus est. of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. Pärt studied in Tallinn with Harri Otsa and Veljo Domino is a setting of Psalm XCV for four-part chorus Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato: He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate: Tormis, then at the Tallinn Conservatoire with Heino and organ. The simple, chant-like melody is heard in a passus et sepultus est. suffered and was buried. Eller, graduating in 1963. While his earliest works number of harmonizations and registral combinations, adopted an undemanding neo-classical style, his with the sparing organ part adding a subtle degree of Et resurrexit tertia die, And the third day he rose again, clandestine study of serial composition made itself colour to the vocal writing. secundum Scripturas. according to the Scriptures. apparent in Nekrolog (1960), heralding a series of Commissioned for the Ninetieth Deutsche Et ascendit in cælum: And ascended into heaven: scores, including Perpetuum Mobile and the First Katholikentag in Berlin, Pärt’s Berliner Messe was sedet ad dexteram Patris. and is seated at the right hand of the Father. ‘Polyphonic’ Symphony, which afforded Pärt notoriety composed during 1990-91 and revised six years later. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria And he shall come again with glory amid the warily-conservative establishment of the Originally scored for four solo voices and organ, it was judicare vivos et mortuos: to judge the living and the dead: period. A growing interest in the music of Bach led Pärt subsequently arranged either for choir and organ or, as cujus regni non erit finis. whose kingdom shall have no end. to combine the famous B-A-C-H motif with often on the present recording, for choir and strings. After an Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum, And I believe in the Holy Spirit, wildly extraneous material, as in the cello concerto Pro elegiac Kyrie, in which strings intertwine with the et vivificantem: Lord and giver of life: et Contra and the Second Symphony (both 1966). The choir’s supplications, the Gloria effects a more qui ex Patre, Filioque procedit. who proceeds from the Father and the Son. climax of this period came with Credo (1968), in which animated manner within the same restricted tonal and Qui cum Patre, et Filio simul adoratur, Who with the Father and the Son is worshipped, Bach and Modernism openly conflict in a work whose harmonic compass. In the first of two departures from et conglorificatur: and glorified: overt Christianity was considered a direct challenge to the customary Mass liturgy, Pärt interpolates a First and qui locutus est per Prophetas. who spoke through the Prophets. Soviet officialdom. Second Alleluia which warm the choral textures with Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et And in one holy, catholic, Rather than pursue this line of thinking, Pärt their major-mode radiance. There follows an extensive apostolicam Ecclesiam. apostolic Church. retreated into near silence. The Third Symphony of 1971 setting of the Veni Sancte Spiritus, in which alternate Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. [Naxos 8.554591] gave notice of an intense interest in responses from the four vocal registers unfold over a Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum. And I await the resurrection of the dead. early music, notably Gregorian Chant, but it was not static pedal in lower strings, and with upper strings Et vitam venturi saeculi. And the life of the world to come. until 1976 that he again began to compose fluently, articulating the vocal harmony at key points. The Credo Amen. Amen. using a tonal technique he termed tintinnabuli, in which is a direct rewrite of Summa (see below), here sounding the bell-like resonance of notes in a triad underscores a a mood of easeful contentment. Not so the Sanctus, the ! The Beatitudes (St Matthew Ch.V, vv.3-12) melodic voice which revolves step-wise around a central inward, ruminative manner of which is pursued to a pitch. A number of works considered modern classics more rarified degree in the Agnus Dei, which ends the Blessed are the poor in spirit: followed, notably Tabula Rasa [Naxos 8.554591], work in a mood of calm, etiolated detachment. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Fratres and Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten A setting of Psalm CXXIX for male chorus, organ Blessed are they that mourn: [both on Naxos 8.553750], culminating in 1982 with and ad libitum percussion complement, De Profundis for they shall be comforted. Pärt’s largest work thus far, the St John Passion [Naxos was sketched in 1977 but completed only in 1980, after Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 8.555860]. This paved the way for a sequence of mainly Pärt’s temporary move to Vienna, and dedicated to the Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after sacred choral works, consolidating Pärt’s reputation Austrian composer Gottfried von Einem. The effortful righteousness: for they shall be filled. among the most significant composers at work today. initial progress of tenors and basses is touched off by a Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. The present recording provides an overview of his flickering organ ostinato and punctuated by quiet bass Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. mature idiom, with works written either side of the drum strokes and chimes from a single tubular bell, Blessed are the peacemakers: Passion, and in which a gradual expressive opening-out rising in a gradual crescendo then easing back to its for they shall be called the children of God. and harmonic enrichment of Pärt’s musical vocabulary initial dynamic level, before the almost peremptory Blessed are they which are persecuted for can be detected. conclusion. righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of 8.557299 2 11 8.557299 557299 bk Pärt 26/07/2004 12:39pm Page 10 Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Composed in 1977 for soprano, alto, tenor and bass words in the text. Again, there is a gradual crescendo, Osanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest. soloists or choir, Summa was recast in 1990 as the culminating here in a fervent Amen and an intense Credo in Pärt’s Berliner Messe, at which time it was organ postlude which fades out of earshot in the closing 8 Agnus Dei 8 Agnus Dei also arranged for string quartet [Naxos 8.553750]. bars. Unlike the revision, the original version proceeds Commissioned by Deutsche Musikrat, and first Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world: unequivocally in the minor mode, an indication, given by the Staats- und Domchor of Berlin in 1989, the miserere nobis. have mercy upon us. perhaps, of the genesis of the piece at a time when Magnificat is perhaps Pärt’s most immediately Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world: public avowal of religious faith was forbidden in appealing choral work.