Arvo Paumlrt Paul Hillier Hilliard Ensemble - Passio (1 tracks) +Album Reviews

Part at His Most Minimal

Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 01/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Arvo Part has become something of a cottage industry now, with most of his pieces enjoying multiple recordings. The shorter works are especially friendly to new agers, with their quiet moods and sombre spiritual atmosphere. But at his most austere, Part is still a radical and more challenging than an mere aquaintance with works like Spiegel Am Spiegel would lead one to believe. His long works can be as sonically challenging as anything written in the past 50 years, even as they askew atonality, harsh dissonance and complex rhythm. In their very simplicity is their challenge. Part's St. John Passion is probably his masterwork. Written early in his tintintabulation style (the slow, bell like sonorities and block chords for which he has become famous) this work was produced before the style became too stultifying, while the inspiration was still fresh. Those looking for a dramatic Passion in the tradition of Bach would do best to look elsewhere. (Penderecki would be a good choice. Or James MacMillan's Triduum orchestral series.) Part takes his inspiration from earlier musical dramatizations of the Passion, at times drawing from the tradition of medieval liturgical drama and the passions of Heinrich Schutz. As a result, the work is austere, as were those earlier works, more meant for a worship service than the concert hall. The Evangelist sections are sung by a quartet accompanied by a varying chamber ensemble. Their music resembles nothing so much as the music from Satie's Socrate. It's very lack of passion heightens the emotion of the entire work. Peter, Pilate and Jesus are sung by baritone, tenor, and bass soloists respectively. Jesus' music is particularly effective, slowing down with each utterance on the cross. The choral writing has some of the language of Stravinsky's sacred works and is perhaps the most dramatic element of the entire work. And after Christ's death, sung exquisitely by the Evangelist ensemble on a single quiet note, the choir and organ enter in the first major mode of the work, building to a blazing amen. This moment alone is worth the entire CD and I believe could not be as effective without the austerity of the rest of the work. Part of the difficulty of appreciating this masterwork is our societal expectation that things be "full of something". Full of drama, full of sound, full of distracting events. Part's music, by it's sheer length and simplicity of means, challenges us to listen differently, not for distraction but for something deeper. This work should not be listened to as a "concert piece" but rather as a religious ceremony. I tend to dust it off only once a year during Holy Week. Taken in that context, the work is unlike anything else, and a journey deep into the central mystery of the Christian Faith, without any dramatic trappings or adornments. It's a journey well worth taking."

St John Passion composed with passion

JJ Hinrichs | Dallas, TX | 05/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I hagve had this CD for a few years now, and it still amazes me with each listen. The work can be trying for over an hour, but if you stick with it, what a rewarding experience! The last 15 minutes are utterly heartbreaking. It'll bring a tear to your eye. It did to me. It's the only piece I've heard that makes me well up. Superb job by Arvo Pärt, and the Hilliard Ensemble yet again shows their aptitude for the music."

Contemplative, not casual

C. Hiestand | Kalamazoo, MI USA | 04/19/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a fan of Arvo Pärt, I purchased this CD a couple of years ago. After listening to it a few times, I have concluded that it does not make good "background" music, nor does it lend itself well to casual listening. However, when actively listening to this composition in its entirety, I found it to be an excellent aid to meditation on the Passion of Christ. The text moves slowly enough to allow contemplation of each passage during the accompanying music. But this CD is not for everyone; if you seek something energetic, pass this one up and keep looking."

Music of calm but striking spirituality

Christopher Culver | 01/30/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Estonian composer Arvo Part has composed in several styles during his 40-year career, but the most popular is his "tintinnabuli" style of the 1970s and 1980s, when he chose to turn away from the avant-garde towards the simpler, bell-like sonorities of medieval Western music and plainsong. Because of the frugal nature of the music, as well as the religious titles of many of his works of this time, this style has been called by some "holy minimalism". One of his most ambitious works of this era is his PASSIO or, to use its full title, "Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem".

The PASSIO is a straightforward setting of the Latin (Vulgate) text of St John's Gospel. However, those expecting to hear a St John's Passion classical like Bach's or fresh and modern like Sofia Gubaidulina's will be surprised. Part has looked far into the past, further back than Bach, and produced a work reminiscent of Gregorian chant. This 60-minute work is a single track and sung uninterrupted, and the first thing that will strike the listener is its smooth and seemingly unchanging veneer. The six vocalists--Jesus, Pilate, and a quartet representing the Evangelist, sing with total sincerity but no urgency in order to let the listener form his own private relationship to his crucified Saviour out of the presented words. Each of the singers is accompanied by certain instruments, Jesus and Pilate by organ, while the Evangelist quartet by violin, cello, oboe, and bassoon.

I have been hard on Part's oeuvre during this period. Popular works like "Tabula Rasa" and "Cantus" are supposed to be "spiritual", but they communicate no clear religious orthodoxy and the listener hears whatever he wants to in it. I favour his works of the mid-to-late 1990s when he began to compose music deeply linked to his Russian Orthodox faith, a phase which culminated in his magisterial 1998 setting of the KANON POKAJANEN penitence text of St Andrew of Crete. However, PASSIO is a marvelous exception in his tintinnabuli phase. This is deeply Christian music, not easy to listen to but capable of focusing the believer on the core of his faith. I only wish that Part decided, as did Gubaidulina after her great, much greater than Part's, JOHANNES-PASSION, to set the Easter according to St John as well, it would be fascinating to hear Part's perspective on the other half of Christianity's foundation.

This performance by the Hilliard Ensemble is excellent. The six singers give powerful yet controlled performances. The first appearance of soprano Lynne Dawson is a moment you will never forget. Behind them the instruments are strong enough to give texture to the music without calling attention to themselves and detracting from the Gospel presentation. As the composer was present during the rehearsals and recording, this performance might be seen as definitive. There is another recording on the budget label Naxos of a performance by Tonus Peregrinus, but in spite of the quality of the musicianship, I find its acoustics unpleasant and I rate this ECM disc higher. I have not yet heard the recording on Finlandia.

I am, however, a bit disappointed by the liner notes. While they do give the text of the Passion in Latin with English translation and three photographs of the composer and the recording session, there is no biography of Part nor a musicological analysis of the work. This deficiency is regrettably common to nearly all of ECM's recordings of Part's music, though the liner notes for the KANON POKAJANEN are pretty good.

If you have not heard Part's music before, I would suggest the TABULA RASA or LITANY discs, also on ECM. With several works presented in each disc, there will give one a pretty good coverage of his compositional techniques. If you like what you have heard there, and are welcoming to deeply Christian music, PASSIO will probably not disappoint."

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