(CD) ADAM'S LAMENT

Arvo Part's Adam's Lament for chorus and orchestra was commissioned by the cultural capital cities Istanbul and Tallin in 2010 and 2011. It is based on writings of Saint Silouan (1866-1938), in which the Russian Orthodox monk on Mount Athos describes Adam's pain at the loss of Paradise. It was not the first time Part was inspired to compose a work on Silouan's texts; in 1991 he published Silouans Song ("My soul yearns after the Lord") for string orchestra (recorded on ECM with the Te Deum, the Magnificat and the Berlin Mass). When setting Adam's Lament which, for Part, has great poetic, expressive power with its central message of love and humility, the composer internalised Silouan's words completely; they determined the substance and structure of the text (sung in ecclesial Slavic), its punctuation, number of syllables and accentuation of the music down to the smallest detail. "That perfect melding caused me somehow to think less of a work of art when I was composing." The piece is dedicated to Archimandrit Sophrony, Silouan's pupil and biographer, who also published the monk's writings in the 1950s. They have been translated into more than 20 languages; critics consider them to be among those works without which no serious anthology of Russian poetry will be complete in future. Adam's Lament, the most comprehensive work on this CD, is complemented by a number of older choral works which Part reworked at a later date, including Salve Regina, originally for organ and chorus, commissioned for Hubert Luthe, Bishop of Essen Cathedral in 2001. 10 years later, Part reworked it, along with two other pieces recorded on this CD, Beatus Petronius and Statuit ei Dominus from 1990, for choir, string orchestra and woodwinds. Part wrote of the works: "The feathery lightness of Beatus Petronius and, by contrast, the potency of Statuit ei Dominus are two sonic worlds, like the two sides of God, which I tried to touch, to trace in these works. It is difficult for us to fathom God - in terms of both his greatness and simultaneous infinite benevolence." L'Abbe Agathon (2004-2008) is another weighty piece on this recording. Scored for soprano, baritone, female choir and string orchestra, it was originally a commission from the cello octet in Beauvais, France. Near the city are the remnants of St. Lazarus Hospital, the oldest hospital for lepers in Northern Europe, dating back to the 12th century. Part took the legend of St. Agathon in which he exchanges his body with that of a leper. "Three musical situations dominate the piece: the way to the market, with Agathon's heavy gait with the leper on his shoulders, the dialogues between the lepers and Agathon, and the life at the market." According to the legend, Agathon carried the leper on his back and fulfilled his every wish until he discovered that, in reality, the leper was an angel sent by God to test him. Two short pieces round off this CD of choral compositions: the Alleluia Tropus (2008-2010) and Two Lullabies (2002/2006). According to Part, lullabies are like little pieces of lost Paradise: "A small consolation combined with the feeling of profundity and intimacy. I wrote these two lullabies for adults and for the child within every one of us." Tonu Kaluste has long been one of the outstanding interpreters of his countryman's music. No other conductor has his gift for allowing Part's works to breathe so freely in the choirs and orchestras he leads. He has already recorded many of Part's pieces for ECM with the two ensembles he founded, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Other important interpreters of Part's music on the CD include the Riga Sinfonietta, the Latvian Radio Choir (founded in 1940) and Vox Clamantis, with its wide range of repertoire, from medieval to modern. The recordings took place with Part in attendance in St. Nicolai Church (Niguliste kirke) in Tallinn. That 13th-century church often serves as a concert hall and recording