Arvo Pärt: Litany Music

Arvo Pärt: Litany and other best sellers. Great prices on Arvo Pärt: Litany and other best selling Classical Music. To find additional Classical Music browse the Music categories, or use the search box at the top of this page.

by: Arvo Part, Tonu Kaljuste, Saulius Sondeckis

See Larger Image


Customer Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - Ho-hum After reading the reviews I had high hopes when I bought this and TeDeum; however, he sounded like the Kenny G of classical. The overuse of the word "spiritual" as an adjective for his ambient, white noise left me skeptical after listening. I resumed listening to Schnittke, Messaien and I think I'll take my brother's advice and listen to Tournemire and some Brian Eno. This guy, Arvo Part, the masses will like, it's a good name. Rating: - Divine for Sure... I was very skeptical of Part, having seen rave reviews (from Michael Stipe of all people), as I tend to discount rave reviews. I heard a few of his pieces over the years without being at all impressed. If you like JS Bach or Rachmaninoff's "Vespers," then it didn't seem like Part was offering anything substantially new or innovative. Then I heard "Litany" and was blown away by the time the first vocalist intoned "Oh Lord." This music is like a divine nuclear explosion, the sound of a soul calling out for God from the depths of its being (de profundis). Silly descriptions aside, "Litany" is among the most stunning, beautiful compositions ever created by human hands. Catholic, Muslim, Lutheran, Ahmadiyan, Sikh, Buddhist, Athiest, Wiccan, or whatever, "Litany" will make a believer out of you. Having learned to hear Part, I've also come to admire other works, even those I previously disliked. Rating: - Cyclic delights Of all Arvo Pärt's more recent releases, "Litany" probably provides the best illustration to contemporary composers ("serious" and "pop", for want of better delimitations) that music can be intensely cyclic without being compromisingly repetitive or monotonous. The title track is a lengthy religious work that evokes one of the Hilliard Ensemble's most passionate vocal deliveries and progressively animates a fairly simple melody into a stirring crescendo. "Psalom" is a quietly dignified and meditative piece that confirms Pärt's mastery of musical concepts that contemporary pretenders would conveniently call "ambient". But the album's highlight is undoubtedly "Trisagion", where the composer conjours an entirely new range of timbres and textures from a string section and occasionally fools our ears into believing that they are wind instruments.

Arvo Pärt: Litany Music

Related Music Searches