"Virtuosic singers"

Arvo Pärt: Creator Spritus
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer (London)
Søndag, 8. april Read review on www

This collection of choral chamber pieces by Arvo Pärt (b 1935) conjures that mood of stillness which has given the Estonian composer near cult status, the vocal writing inspired more by medieval and Orthodox chant than by any of the musical fads or revolutions of the intervening centuries. It is no surprise that the virtuosic singers in Theatre of Voices and Ars Nova Copenhagen are often to be found in early music ensembles. The 10 works span more than two and a half decades, opening with the Pentecostal hymn "Veni creator" (2006) and including Pärt's musically symmetrical setting of the Stabat Mater (1985). The NYYD Quartet and organist Christopher Bowers-Broadbent add sonic variety to this pure, minimalist enterprise.