Arvo Pärt Passacaglia - Arvo Pärt and Kristjan Järvi (2016)
Järvi is a world-famous conductor whose father and brother are also world-famous conductors. I bet that’s a tedious Christmas dinner…
The Järvi family are Estonian, as is Arvo Pärt–one of the 20th century’s most notable composers. This record contains some of Järvi’s takes on and appreciation of several decades of Pärt works.
The beginning, Credo, is an early piece that plays with modernist vs classical ideas. The straightforward Bach-sounding parts are set off by several different 20th century compositional ideas that make the whole thing veer in and out of chaos. I hadn’t really listened to it before today, but I really enjoyed it.
The bulk of the program showcases a system Pärt used from the 70s onwards of devising a set of rules for how the melody and its harmonies change over the course of the piece. It’s based on the tone changes of a ringing bell, which gives the system its name: Tintinnabuli.
In Summa, the system generates a haunting urgency. The middle of the program features violinist Anne Akiko Meyers performing several pieces that set the solo violin against a the string orchestra, with both sides creating similar but diverging patterns.
Of course, there’s plenty to hear even if you’re not intersted in all the technical details. The melodies are striking and elegant, with a complete lack of pomp or decoration.
