Arvo Pärt
Tractus – Sacred Works
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Tallinn Chamber Orchestra/Tõnu Kaljuste
ECM ECM2800 65:06 mins
Tractus is an attractive collection of works inspired by religious texts, composed by Arvo Pärt over the past quarter of a century. The title comes from the opening work, Littlemore Tractus, a meditative setting of an extract of a sermon by Cardinal Newman, commissioned to mark the bicentenary of his birth.
The link between clergyman and composer is telling: Newman rejected the modernising of the Anglican liturgy, calling for a return to its pre-Reformation roots; Pärt rejected Serialism and Modernism, turning to Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony.
These choral and orchestral works were composed during a period when Pärt was expanding and loosening the formal minimalist style which he calls ‘Tintinnabuli’, in which repeated triads underpin simple melodic lines to produce a hypnotic effect. The accomplished forces assembled here perform with an understated purity and pinpoint accuracy that can sometimes feel anonymous.
These Words, for orchestra, is the most expressionistic of the works featured, restless and visceral. Most impressive of all is the Cantique des degrés, a setting of Psalm 121 commissioned by the royal family of Monaco. The majestic sweep of the chorus and orchestra is punctuated by glowing brass fanfares, revealing an exuberant side to Pärt, full of festive flair.
In stark contrast is L’abbé Agathon, a mystical ballad for solo soprano. The unusual orchestration for four cellos and four violas gives scope for some vivid scene-setting, and Maria Listra delivers an immaculate account, haunting in her high pianissimo singing.
Conductor Tõnu Kaljuste and ECM’s producer Manfred Eicher are Pärt’s long-term collaborators, and they make an utterly assured contribution to this concentrated retrospective of the composer’s approachable, deeply felt compositional style. Ashutosh Khandekar
