Here is some of the most spiritually uplifting music of our generation, sung by that most virtuosic of choirs, Polyphony. Arvo Pärt (paralleled in England by John Tavener) has succeeded in capturing the attention of a broad public through his consummate ability to weave a sense of inevitable power into music of fundamental simplicity.
The impressive Berlin Mass which opens the disc was written in 1990, the Credo being a fascinating major-key reworking of the earlier minor-mode Summa; very much an expression of joy at the lifting of the Soviet embargo on ‘sacred’ music in Estonia. Annum per Annum is a monumental work for solo organ and is here performed on the organ of St Paul’s Cathedral: a thoroughly exhilarating experience. The disc ends with the masterpiece De profundis. This most powerful of texts draws from Pärt an inexorable momentum from a beginning almost out of nothing to a devastating climax.
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1Berliner Messe: I. Kyrie03:26
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2Berliner Messe: II. Gloria03:42
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3Berliner Messe: III. Erster Alleluiavers00:55
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4Berliner Messe: IV. Zweiter Alleluiavers01:10
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5Berliner Messe: V. Veni, Sancte Spiritus05:34
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6Berliner Messe: VI. Credo03:53
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7Berliner Messe: VII. Sanctus03:23
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8Berliner Messe: VIII. Agnus Dei03:08
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9The Beatitudes07:01
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10Annum per Annum: I. Einleitung01:15
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11Annum per Annum: II. K[yrie]01:47
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12Annum per Annum: III. G[loria]01:34
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13Annum per Annum: IV. C[redo]01:39
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14Annum per Annum: V. S[anctus]01:39
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15Annum per Annum: VI. A[gnus]02:54
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16Annum per Annum: VII. Coda01:11
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17Magnificat07:05
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18Sieben Magnificat Antiphons: I. O Weisheit02:00
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19Sieben Magnificat Antiphons: II. O Adonai02:23
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20Sieben Magnificat Antiphons: III. O Sproß aus Isais Wurzel01:07
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21Sieben Magnificat Antiphons: IV. O Schlüssel Davids02:31
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22Sieben Magnificat Antiphons: V. O Morgenstern02:28
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23Sieben Magnificat Antiphons: VI. O König aller Völker01:19
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24Sieben Magnificat Antiphons: VII. O Immanuel03:15
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25De profundis07:19