Track Listing

1. Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, for string orchestra & bell
2. Summa, for string orchestra
3. The Beatitudes, for chorus & organ
4. Fratres, for strings & percussion
5. Festina lente, for strings & harp ad lib
6. Magnificat, for chorus
7. De Profundis, for male chorus, percussion & organ
8. Tabula rasa, concerto for 2 violins (or violin & viola), prepared piano & string orchestra: Silentium

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30698 in Music
• Released on: 1998-02-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

If you only buy one Pärt CD, buy this one
This exquisite recording is an "Arvo Pärt Sampler" that provides a great introduction to this wonderful composer. I bought it because it contains his two best-known short choral works, the Beatitudes and the Magnificat. The performances by the choir of King's College Cambridge are transcendent, as usual; it is very difficult to achieve the serenity of sound needed to communicate Pärt's music, but King's is perfect for it. The instrumental works are samples of Pärt's greatest hits including an especially heart-rending performance of the Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.

Whether or not you enjoy the music of Arvo Pärt is partially a matter of temperament. Pärt is to music what contemplative spirituality is to prayer. To most of us, prayer involves talking to God; but to the contemplative, prayer means listening in receptive silence. Pärt is deeply contemplative, and his music speaks from this inner stillness, suspended in time. If you long for this inner stillness and peace, you will love Pärt; if not, his music will probably bore you. Silence plays an important part in his music. In the words of Arvo Pärt, "The most important things that happen between people who are very close to each other are not stated, are not even possible to express. One doesn't need to and shouldn't say anything." When you listen to Pärt, don't expect action, don't expect something to "happen." Just give yourself to the music and don't "do" anything - let God do it.

An excellent selection of Part's work
This CD rates a permanent place in my CD changer.

Part is a very listenable composer given the reputation that seems to preceed modern classical music. His music evokes a since of time immemorial, of something sacred. Part uses an almost logical repetition of themes in instrumentation, but not in a way that becomes dull or silly.

This CD offers of an excellent sampling of Part's more popular works. Unlike the budget Naxos recording, it includes a trio of Part's wonderful, reverant choral pieces. This CD also extracts tracks from some of Part's longer works, a simple way to audition pieces that can only be found on very expensive discs. Of particular interest, and to my particular glee, is the last track, which I've been known to describe as "a musical conversation with musical silence".

For a curious first-time buyer of Part's music this CD represents a most excellent beginning. A more avid listener of Part's music might find this CD a worthwhile grouping of his shorter works.

Part's purity and beauty shine through again
After purchasing "Arvo Part - Sanctuary", I was only sure that I would enjoy one track - the "Magnificat" which I had heard before. Upon listening to the disc, I found that I enjoyed every track on the CD because Arvo Part's truly sanctified and soothing style of composition has created some of the greatest masterpieces in music that I know of. It is definitely worth the money that I paid for it. When I die, I want this CD playing in the background.