Tabula Rasa
Artist(s):
Arvo Pärt
Label: ECM Records
Publisher(s):
ECM Records
Studio: ECM Records
Manufacturer: ECM Records
Binding: Audio Cassette
List Price: $9.49
Track Listing
1.
Fratres, for violin & piano
2.
Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, for string orchestra & bell
3.
Fratres, for 4, 8 or 12 cellos
4.
Tabula rasa, concerto for 2 violins (or violin & viola), prepared piano
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This seminal disc now almost seems like a manifesto for a whole new strain of minimalism that has found an enormously receptive audience in the last decade. It represented a breakthrough for Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose music--like that of his European colleagues John Tavener and Henryk Górecki--pursues an austerely beautiful simplicity that suggests spiritual illumination. Fratres, given here in two versions, one for piano and violin and the other for 12 cellos, repeatedly intones a sequence resembling chant to convey a sensibility that seems at once archaic and beyond time. Violinist Gidon Kremer, for whom Pärt wrote the exquisitely contemplative and hypnotic title work, grasps the music's koan-like idiom, allowing an inner fullness to resonate through the most fragile, ethereal wisps of tone against the mysterious clangings of prepared piano. The tolling of the tubular bells in Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten is an emotionally charged lament, based on a simple minor descending scale, that introduces Pärt's fascination with what he calls "tintinnabulation": the literal and metaphorical sound of ringing bells. This recording is also famous for the acoustically warm presence produced by ECM's Manfred Eicher, which magnificently captures the mystical simplicity of Pärt's sound world. --Thomas May
Customer Reviews
Tabula Rasa/Fratres, etc.
I think this recording is one of the best available introductions to Pärt's work. All the pieces are instrumental and are probably more approachable than his immense choral works. The recording centers around "Tabula Rasa", a double-violin concerto, and also includes two of the apparently many versions of "Fratres" and the "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten". The latter, though a moving tribute and a very interesting tour de force, is of minor significance compared to either "Tabula Rasa" or "Fratres". All the performances, though, are superlative.
"Tabula Rasa" achieves the difficult task of keeping us focused on one or two tiny ideas within a large-scale "minimalist" framework. (Most of the "minimal" composers detest the term so I only use it for convenience.) Musically and emotionally Pärt has found a sound world pregnant with mystery and poignancy, and he manages to suspend our attention in this fragile world for an astonishing length of time. Particularly impressive is the placement of the climax just shy of the halfway mark, as opposed to a more typical three-quarters or so. This leaves us with a calm and unchanging denouement section stretched over a huge proportion of the piece. The fact that we need and want the denouement to last that long after the preceding cataclysm is quite an achievement in and of itself. Curiously, the piece's orchestration, two solo violins accompanied by string orchestra and prepared piano, is nearly identical to that of Schnittke's first Concerto Grosso, which though outwardly different from "Tabula Rasa" appears to be oddly cut from the same cloth. I have no idea if there's more than coincidence here.
"Fratres" is much shorter and perhaps more optimistic in mood than "Tabula Rasa", but is just as moving. Whether one hears it as "optimistic", detached or simply bright in tone, there's little denying the raw power within this mostly quiet piece. I am partial to the violin/piano version's variety of color and phrase-setting over the multiple cello version, which seems to be more about dynamic flatness. Especially the piece's recurring "mantra" -- a two-bar tonic statement -- is more striking and memorable in the violin/piano version. And its stellar performance by Gidon Kremer and Keith Jarrett doesn't hurt either. They aren't afraid to be luxurious with every level of pacing; the result, paradoxically, keeps me on the edge of my seat.
Haunting, lyrical, minimal music
To be honest, I find the "New simplicity" spearheaded by Part, Gorecki and Taverner somewhat over-rated. Nonetheless, Part's Tabula Rasa is a beautifully conceived CD. Fratres and Tabula Rasa (latin for 'unmarked slate') are evocative, melancholy and wonderfully written. Cantus is based on bell patterns (in his native Estonia) and the simplest of the works. This is not a criticism however as he embellishes the circular melody with a spiralling sense of passionate loss and keening. Fratres is featured twice (I have seen a CD with a dozen or more renditions - an unusual luxury for new music but surely overkill), firstly by Jarrett & Kremer in a thin (and slightly jangling) but oddly moving version, then by a bank of celli in what must be the most sympathetic setting. The piece, Tabula Rasa, is an inspired work, building into a huge web of incredible beauty. The music on this CD does not challenge the listener but does offer a music experience with a deeply felt spiritual dimension.
haunting; written as if spawned from a concentration camp.
The melancholy drips from this music. I don't why I love Part's music so much, and Tabula Rasa was my introduction to the man. Incredible.
