April 21, 2008

From the Universal Edition newsletter...

'Arvo Pärt is one of the most original voices on the international music scene today.' This is one of the reasons given by the Sonning Music Foundation for awarding the composer the Léonie Sonning Prize - the most important distinction in the Danish music world - on 22 May at a celebratory concert conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste. Besides Cantus, L'Abbé Agathon and In Principio, the programme also includes a première: 'These Words...', a 15-minute work for strings and percussion. As its textual basis Pärt uses the human foibles mentioned in the old Church Slavonic prayer from the Canon to the Guardian Angel, while the title derives from associations between this material and Shakespeare's Hamlet. Copenhagen will already be focusing on Pärt on 20 May, with a performance of Miserere by the Ars Nova Choir and the Athelas Sinfonietta under Paul Hillier.

Also, these are two other premières taking place this month:

Da pacem Domine
for choir and orchestra
27/04, Potsdam, Potsdamer Kantorei,
Neues Kammerorchester Potsdam, c. Ud Joffe

De profundis
for male voice choir and chamber orchestra
27/04, Potsdam, Potsdamer Kantorei,
Neues Kammerorchester Potsdam, c. Ud Joffe

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