Contemporary Composition / Mystical Minimalism

Original German edition of the 1984 ECM album that introduced the amazing work of the Estonian composer to the Westen world, with three pieces composed in the 1970's and performed by Keith Jarrett, Alfred Schnittke and Gidon Kremer among others.

Estonian vocal ensemble Vox Clamantis and their leader Jaan-Eik Tulve have established themselves among the leading interpreters of Arvo Pärt’s music over a quarter-century of close collaboration with the composer – a relationship that builds on the almost half a century long artistic partnership between Pärt and producer Manfred Eicher. Of the ensemble’s ECM New Series recording The Deer’s Cry, the BBC Music Magazine wrote that “the level of artistry necessary to achieve the kind of living, bre…

2025 stock The sound of silence: Estonian-born Arvo Pärt is considered the contemporary composer par excellence, a cult figure of the avant-garde, a man who redefined modernism with music of hypnotic tension and fascinating spirituality. The performers of the orchestral and choral music on this release are top-quality artists and ensembles from Pärt’s native Estonia, notably the conductors Paavo Järvi and Tõnu Kaljuste, who present uniquely authentic readings.

New vinyl reissue in facsimile gatefold edition, includes original liner notes by Wolfgang Sandner in enclosed booklet.

*2024 stock* Original CD and all materials from the original booklet. Music scores of all four compositions of the album. Previously unreleased facsimile of Arvo Pärt’s autographs of “Tabula rasa” and “Cantus”. Introductory essay by Paul Grifftiths. Exclusive photographs from the ECM archive. All texts in English and German. In 1984, ECM brought a new sound into the musical world with the release of Arvo Pärt’s Tabula rasa, the first album on the label’s New Series imprint. Now, on the occasion …

Arvo Pärt's Kanon Pokajanen, a complete a cappella setting of the Orthodox Canon of Repentance in Church Slavonic, sung by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under Tõnu Kaljuste. Recorded June 1997, Niguliste Church, Tallinn. Two CDs.

Duo Gazzana (Natascia Gazzana, violin; Raffaella Gazzana, piano) play Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No. 1 and Five Melodies, Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel and Schnittke's Gratulationsrondo. Recorded February 2025 at the Reitstadel, Neumarkt; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Alexander Knaifel's Chapter Eight (1992-93), a Song of Songs setting for cathedral, choirs and cello. Patrick Demenga with the State Choir Latvija, Riga Cathedral Boys Choir and Youth Choir Kamēr under Andres Mustonen, live at the Jesuitenkirche Luzern, March 2009.

Thirteen choral works by Arvo Pärt from 1977 to 2014, including two first recordings, sung by the Estonian ensemble Vox Clamantis under Jaan-Eik Tulve; recorded mainly in Tallinn in 2013 and 2014, with Veni Creator from Haapsalu in 2007.

Fourth ECM New Series album of music by Alexander Knaifel: choral prayers, Pushkin songs and piano pieces, performed by Oleg Malov (piano), Tatiana Melentieva (soprano), Piotr Migunov (bass) and the Lege Artis Choir (Boris Abalian). Recorded 2012, Smolny Cathedral, St Petersburg.

Gavin Bryars's The Fifth Century, a setting of Thomas Traherne for choir and saxophone quartet, and his Two Love Songs after Petrarch, sung by The Crossing under Donald Nally with the PRISM Quartet, recorded in Philadelphia in 2014 and 2015.

Eight choral works by Arvo Pärt, led by the 24-minute Adam's Lament, sung and played by Latvian and Estonian choirs and string orchestras under Tõnu Kaljuste, recorded at Niguliste Church, Tallinn, in 2007 and 2011.

Alexander Knaifel's Psalm 51 (50) for solo cello, played by Mstislav Rostropovich (St. Gerold, 2001), and Amicta Sole for soprano Tatiana Melentieva, Glinka Choral College boys and State Hermitage Orchestra under Arkady Shteinlukht (St. Petersburg, 2000).

Giya Kancheli's Lament, music of mourning in memory of Luigi Nono, for violin, soprano and orchestra, performed by Gidon Kremer, Maacha Deubner and the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra under Jansug Kakhidze, recorded in Tbilisi in March 1998.

Giya Kancheli's Exil (1994), settings of Psalm 23 and poems by Paul Celan and Hans Sahl for soprano, instruments and tape, sung by Maacha Deubner with a chamber ensemble conducted by Wladimir Jurowski, recorded in May 1994 at Propstei St. Gerold.

Organ works by Arvo Pärt, Peter Maxwell Davies and Philip Glass played by Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, recorded in October 1990 at the Grossmünster, Zürich, and produced by Manfred Eicher.