December 16, 2011Click here to see the 2011 Christmas card from Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves which incorporates Vater Unser
VATICAN CITY, 12 DEC 2011, VIS - The Holy Father:Saturday 10 December it was made public that he appointed:
- As members of the Pontifical Council for Culture: Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; Cardinal Donald William Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, U.S.A.; Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation; Archbishop Giuseppe Betori of Florence, Italy; Bishop Joseph Vianney Fernando of Kandy, Sri Lanka; Fr. Francois Bousquet, professor at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Sciences of the "Institut Catholique de Paris", France; Jean-Luc Marion, philosopher and professor of metaphysics at the Universities of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) and of Chicago, and Arvo Pärt, musician and composer from Estonia.
see: http://visnews-en.blogspot.com/2011/12/other-pontifical-acts_12.html
November 29, 2011A review, written by Richard Holding (in French), of some recent Paris concerts can be found at his personal blog (along with a video of Pärt listening to a rehearsal of Da Pacem Domine) and also at the official site of French magazine "Le Monde des Religions." Here is a link to the Google translation in English.
October 06, 2011Here is a video of a short but very interesting transcription of Fratres for no-input mixer. Each part is "played" by separate pitches generated from audio feedback.
September 29, 2011I noticed last evening that a recording of Vater Unser is available on iTunes. This is sung by Heldur Harry Polda (boy soprano) with the composer on piano. This piece is not something in the composer's typical style but is a beautiful gem nonetheless (and very Schubertian). http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/part-vater-unser-single/id452274787
September 14, 2011Lamentate will be premiered in New York on January 31, 2012. More information can be found here.
You can now listen to the premieres mentioned in the August 18 news. A short review of the concerts can be found here and streaming audio of the performance can be heard here. Although not mentioned previously, this concert also includes a performance of Adam's Lament.
August 18, 2011Two upcoming world premieres from the Universal Edition newsletter:
Arvo Pärt: Salve Regina
for choir (SATB), celesta and string orchestra
9 and 10 September, MITO Settembre Musica
Torino Vocalensemble
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino, c. Tito Ceccherini Arvo Pärt: Statuit ei Dominus + Beatus Petronius
for two choirs (SATB), eight woodwind instruments and string orchestra
9 and 10 September, MITO Settembre Musica
Torino Vocalensemble
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino, c. Tito Ceccherini
COMPOSER ARVO PÄRT AND ARCHITECTS SNØHETTA COLLABORATE FOR GUGGENHEIM EXHIBITION IN LOWER MANHATTANSecond Edition in stillspotting nyc Series Exploring Stillness and Quiet in Urban Environment
For the second edition of stillspotting nyc, a two-year multidisciplinary project that takes the Guggenheim Museum's programming out into the streets of New York City's boroughs, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and U.S. and Norway-based architecture firm Snøhetta create urban soundscapes around Lower Manhattan that explore the relationship between space and sound. To a Great City, the Manhattan edition of stillspotting nyc, will be open to the public for two extended weekends on September 15-18 and 22-25, 2011.
Further information can be found here
August 07, 2011A new CD of piano music is being on Naxos in September. This disc will contain the world premiere recording (to my knowledge) of Fur Anna Maria. Full details can be found here.
The following concert was broadcast last Friday and is now available on Klassikaraadio's "i-player" service. Click here to listen. Esinevad Christopher Bowers-Broadbent (orel, Inglismaa)
Eesti Filharmoonia Kammerkoor
Dirigent Paul Hillier Kavas:
Arvo Pärt – Veni creator
Arvo Pärt – Anthem of St John the Babtist (orelisaatega)
Arvo Pärt – The Deer’s Cry
Arvo Pärt – Annum per annum (orel)
Arvo Pärt – Fratres (koorile, Paul Hillieri seades, esiettekanne Eestis)
Arvo Pärt – Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäler?
Arvo Pärt – Nunc dimittis
Arvo Pärt – Morning Star
Arvo Pärt – Salve Regina (orelisaatega)
July 07, 2011BBC Radio is asking for your help. Please contact Nicola if you have anything to share.
BBC RADIO
Spiegel im SpiegelDo you have a special memory connected to Arvo Part's 'Spiegel im Spiegel'? Does it remind you of a special person or a significant time in your life? If so BBC Radio would like to hear from you.
We are making a music documentary dedicated to this piece of music. In this programme we hear the personal stories from people all around the world who have been inspired or comforted by Spiegel im Spiegel'. If you have anything you would like to share please email Nicola Humphries with your name, contact details and a few lines about your special memory before July 14th. We might not be able to include every memory but we will get back to you very quickly if we can. I look forward to hearing from you. Good Wishes, Nicola.
June 17, 2011The CD Les fantaisies de Josquin - The Instrumental Music of Josquin Desprez has just been released on the Christophorus label. The booklet texts were written by the Josquin expert David Fallows and the CD includes the world premiere recording of the composition Sei gelobt, du Baum (for baritone, violin, gittern, and double bass) by Arvo Pärt. Details can be found on the ensemble's website. Links for ordering can be found under the listing on the CD Discography.
April 25, 2011Classic FM's listeners have voted Spiegel im Spiegel to No.64 in their Hall Of Fame, the world's biggest survey of classical music tastes.
March 06, 2011A rare performance of Nekrolog (1960) from Friday March 4, 2011 is still available to listen to at Estonian Classical Radio here. It starts at 7'30" and goes to 19'10". In the introduction the announcer speaks about Arvo Pärt writing it while still a student and that it was the first use of dodecaphony in Estonia. Also that the dedication "to the victims of fascism" was not what the composer had in mind, which was instead a lament for all of mankind.
The Trinity Laban String Ensemble will be performing Summa as part of their "Postcards From... A celebration of music from around the World" concert. Details are below.
February 25, 2011On France Musique, (for roughly another 30 days) you can listen to the concert played at the Vatican last October in front of the Pope, with the performance of Pärt's Cecilia Vergine Romana. Listen here.
January 28, 2011A couple of items sent to me by Marguerite Bostonia:
The AGO magazine (American Guild of Organists) has an article on Pärt's organ works, by Andrew Shenton, December 2010, p.76.
Pärt will be composer in residence at the Baltic Musics and Musicologies Conference 2011 at Canterbury Christ Church College, Canterbury UK, May 26-28, 2011
January 24, 2011Here are details for an upcoming broadcast that includes Adam's Lament and Berliner Messe with the Latvian Radio Chorus, Stockholm Sinfonietta & Tõnu Kaljuste. The performances are from the Gustav Vasa Church, Stockholm, Sweden, on August 30, 2010. The "Listen" button is at the top right of the BBC page linked below. The "Listen in HD" button does not work in North America (but may work for U.K. listeners)
Wednesday Jan. 26, 2011 at 13:00 BST.
Afternoon on 3, Episode 3 of 5 from Summer Festivals Europe and Beyond
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xnh2j
January 14, 2011A November 2010 performance in Toronto by Tõnu Kaljuste and six Canadian choirs can be heard here or from the CBC Concerts on Demand directory here (see under Dec. 23, 2010). Works include Berlin Mass, Magnificat, and Da pacem Domine.
From Universal Edition...
“Love every note”. Arvo Pärt talks to Tom Service about his life and music for the BBC’s programme Music Matters. Listen to the full interview this Saturday on BBC Radio 3 (12:15 London, 13:15 Paris – available online for seven days afterwards).
