With mechanical consistency, a lone bell creates a meditative sound. Very slowly, strings begin shimmering through the image by playing canonic scales. This Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, written by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, will be the first piece we hear in this week’s program Voices from the East. Throughout the week, our musical journey brings us to composers that were born in the most northern of the Baltic states; in Chistopol, on the banks of the Kama river in western Russia; and in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia in the middle of the Caucasus Mountains: Arvo Pärt, Sofia Gubaidulina and Giya Kancheli.
Voices from the East
Playlist
Episode 1
Pärt, Arvo: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
Stuttgart State Opera/Davies
Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, for String Orchestra and Tubular Bell
ECM 1405
5:04
Pärt, Arvo: Tabula Rasa, I. Ludus
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra/Järvi Adele Anthony and Gil Shaham, violins
Arvo Pärt Tabula Rasa
DG 457647
9:50
Pärt, Arvo: Symphony No. 4
LA Philharmonic/Salonen
ARVO PÄRT: SYMPHONY NO. 4
ECM 2160
34:52
Episode 2
Pärt, Arvo: Perpetuum Mobile, Op. 10
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra/Neeme Järvi
Pärt – Cello Concerto and Symphonies No.1, No.2 and No.3
BIS 434
4:07
Pärt, Arvo: Collage Uber BACH: Toccata
Ulster Orchestra/Takuo Yuasa
Arvo Pärt – A Portrait
Naxos 8558182-83
2:47
Pärt, Arvo: Wenn Bach Bienen Gezüchtet Hätte
Boris Berman, piano
Arvo Pärt: Collage
Chandos 9134
7:31
Pärt, Arvo: Für Alina
Alexei Lubimov, piano
Arvo Pärt – A Portrait
Naxos 8558182-83
3:57
Pärt, Arvo: Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem (St. John Passion)
Tonus Peregrinus/Antony Pitts
Arvo Pärt – A Portrait
Naxos 8558182-83
3:57
Pärt, Arvo: De Profundis
Elora Festival Orchestra, Elora Festival Singers/Jurgen Petrenko & Noel Edison, conductors
PART: Berliner Messe / Magnificat / Summa
Naxos 8.557299
5:52
Pärt, Arvo: In Principio
I. In Principio Erat Verbum
V. Et Verbum Caro Factum Est
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic
Chamber Choir/Tõnu Kaljuste
ARVO PÄRT: IN PRINCIPIO
ECM 2050
6:55
Pärt, Arvo: Berliner Messe
VIII. Agnus Dei
IV. Zweiter Alleluiavers
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir/Tõnu Kaljuste
ARVO PÄRT: TE DEUM
ECM 1505
3:51
Pärt, Arvo: Spiegel im Spiegel
Daniel Hope, violin; Simon Mulligan, piano
Shostakovich: Violin Sonata
Nimbus 5631
8:41
Episode 3
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Piano Quintet, I.Allegro (excerpt)
Quatuor Molinari & Louise Bessette, piano
Gubaidulina: Complete String Quartets
ATMA 22689
0:41
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Piano Quintet, II. Andante marziale
Quatuor Molinari & Louise Bessette, piano
Gubaidulina: Complete String Quartets
ATMA 22689
7:00
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Chaconne
Beatrice Rauchs, piano
Gubaidulina – Complete Piano Music
BIS 853
8:57
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Musical Toys: “Mechanical Accordion” “Magic Roundabout”
Andreas Haefliger, piano
Solo Piano Works / Introitus: Concerto for Piano And Chamber Orchestra
Sony 53960
1:12
Gubaidulina, Sofia: In Tempus Praesens (excerpt)
London Symphony Orchestra/Valery Gergiev; Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Anne-Sophie Mutter – In Tempus Praesens
DG 4777450
14:46
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Musical Toys: “A Bear Playing the Bass: & “The Black Woman” Sonata, III
Andreas Haefliger, piano
Solo Piano Works / Introitus: Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra
Sony 53960
3:32
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Ten Preludes for solo cello
I. Staccato – legato
II. Legato – staccato
IV. Ricochet
Vladimir Tonkha, violoncello
Best – Sofia Gubaidulina
Megadisc 7819
5:11
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Musical Toys: “The Woodpecker” (excerpt)
Andreas Haefliger, piano
Solo Piano Works / Introitus: Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra
Sony 53960
00:13
Episode 4
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Reflections on the Theme B-A-C-H
Quatuor Molinari
Gubaidulina: Complete String Quartets
ATMA 22689
7:00
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Hommage à T.S. Eliot for Octet and Soprano, IV, II, III V
Christine Whittlesey, soprano; Gidon Kremer, violin; Klaus Thunemann, bassoon; Isabelle van Keulen, violin; David Geringas, violin cello; Tabea Zimmermann, viola ; Alois Posch, bass; Eduard Brunner, clarinet Radovan Vlatkovic, horn
Offertorium
DG 427 336
13:30
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Two Paths: Music for Two Solo Violas and Symphony Orchestra
New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Kurt Masur; Cynthia Phelps & Rebecca Young, viola
Gubaidulina: Two Paths For Two Solo Violas • Rachmaninoff: Isle Of The Dead • Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1
Special Editions NYP 3
24:26
Gubaidulina, Sofia: Walzerspaß
Gidon Kremer & Catherine Metz, violins; Friederike Schenk, viola; Ksenja Jankovic, violin cello; Mark Marder, bass; Meir Rimon, trombone; Stefan Schweigert, bassoon
Philips 4322522
3:49
Episode 5
Kancheli, Giya: Symphony No. 5 (excerpt)
Georgian State Symphony Orchestra/Jansug Kakhidze
Symphonies 4, 5
Nonesuch 79290
1:00
Kancheli, Giya: Theme from Mimino
Gidon Kremer, violin & Andrei Pushkarev, vibraphone
Theme from the Songbook
ECM 2188
2:50
Kancheli, Giya: Vom Winde Beweint (Mourned by the Wind), I
State Symphony Orch of Georgia/Jansug Kakhidze; Yuri Bashmet, viola
Mourned by the Wind
Melodiya 1002286
11:06
Kancheli, Giya: “Herio Bichebo from Earth, This Is Your Son”
Dino Saluzzi, bandoneon; Andrei Pushkarev, vibraphone
Theme from the Songbook
ECM 2188
3:42
Kancheli, Giya: Main Theme from Cinema
Kremer, violin; Andrei Pushkarev, vibraphone
Theme from the Songbook
ECM 2188
1:34
Kancheli, Giya: Symphony No. 5
Georgian State Symphony Orchestra/Jansug Kakhidze
Symphonies 4, 5
Nonesuch 79290
25:27
Kancheli, Giya: Main Theme from The Role for a Beginner
Dino Saluzzi, bandoneon; Andrei Pushkarev, vibraphone
Theme from the Songbook
ECM 2188
2:27
Kancheli, Giya: Main Theme from The Role for a Beginner (excerpt)
Dino Saluzzi, bandoneon; Andrei Pushkarev, vibraphone
Theme from the Songbook
ECM 2188
00:11