Maria Listra (s) / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallin Chamber Orchestra / Tönu Klajuste (dir)

ECM New Series ★★★★

For Arvo Pärt, as for the entire Christian faith, everything begins with the embodied word. That is true here even in the orchestral pieces in which the relevant text is unheard. In the new version of Littlemore Tractus, to words preached in Oxford by St John Henry Newman on ‘Wisdom And Innocence’ in February 1843, and in the pilgrimage songs of Cantique des degrés, the source of Pärt’s tintinnabulary style of composition in sacred speech is made explicit.

This puts great pressure on the choir and conductor to integrate the vocal music with the orchestral parts and this they have done with almost uncanny accuracy: to the extent that the vocal works seem to transcend speech, while the orchestral pieces clearly articulate their source texts. Even the great prayer of Matthew 6: 9-13, set here as ‘Vater Unser’ passes through language to the unsayable.

This review originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Choir & Organ magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe today