Schnittke & Pärt: Choral Works (2)

Featuring

Kaspars Putniņš
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Alfred Schnittke
Arvo Pärt

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Critical Reception

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir's previous release on BIS, also featuring music by Schnittke and Pärt, won a Gramophone Award in 2018 and was named one of the ten best choirs in the world by BBC Music Magazine in 2020.

Composer Biography

Both Alfred Schnittke and Arvo Pärt adopted the Orthodox faith in the 1970s, which was a personal and spiritual journey for them, and part of a broader cultural movement.

Performer Biography

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) was founded in 1981 by Tõnu Kaljuste and has collaborated with eminent conductors and orchestras worldwide.

Compositional Technique

The texts for Schnittke's Choir Concerto are from 'The Book of Lamentations' by the medieval Armenian poet Gregory of Narek (951-1003), using modern Russian translations.

Composition History

Schnittke's Choir Concerto was written for conductor Valery Polyansky, an ardent champion of the composer's music, and grew out of a single-movement work premiered in Istanbul in 1984.

Historical Context

The religious music of Alfred Schnittke and Arvo Pärt documents the resurgence of Christianity in the last decades of the Soviet Union, as state restrictions on the church were gradually relaxed.

Compositional Technique

Arvo Pärt developed his 'tintinnabuli' system, a compositional technique where voices are paired with one singing a melodic line and the other holding a note from the underlying harmony, creating a bell-like resonance.