Arvo Pärt / John Tavener: Works for String Quartet

Some may consider John Tavener, at times at least, to be a minimalist composer. If the term is made to fit, however, it can only be applied to the composer as a designer of spaces rather than an orderer of linear time. Instead of creating multi-layered, undulating texture patterns, he places his musical objects—or icons, to borrow his own frequent analogy—within spacious aural fields, like a sonic rock garden of some sort. These fields are painted with broad brushstrokes and punctuated with points of light: long drones provide a constant backdrop, while hand bells percuss and resonate. Descriptions like "prayerful" and "meditative," though perhaps frequently accurate, should not be taken as exhaustive or dismissive. Perhaps no work is as methodically non-trajectorial as The Last Sleep of the Virgin, composed in 1992. The subject matter, as well as the circumstances surrounding the work's conception, make it one of Tavener's most introspective scores.

Arvo Pärt's Fratres is a composition existing in versions for a wide variety of instrumentations and exemplifies Pärt's Tintinnabuli style of composition. It exists perhaps most prominently in its versions for violin, string orchestra, and percussion and for violin and piano. Most other versions are very similar to these two: for instance, the versions for viola and piano and cello and piano are almost exactly the same as the former, whereas the version for string quartet is more similar to the latter.

Tracklist:

1. Summa
Composer: Arvo Pärt
Performer: Simon Rowland-Jones (Viola), Levon Chilingirian (Violin), Charles Sewart (Violin),
Philip De Groote (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chilingirian String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1978; Estonia
Date of Recording: 7/1993
Venue: All Saints' Church, Petersham, England
Length: 4 Minutes 40 Secs.

Notes: Arranged: Arvo Pärt (1991)

2. Fratres
Composer: Arvo Pärt
Performer: Levon Chilingirian (Violin), Philip De Groote (Cello), Charles Sewart (Violin),
Simon Rowland-Jones (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chilingirian String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1977-1980; Estonia
Date of Recording: 7/1993
Venue: All Saints' Church, Petersham, England
Length: 11 Minutes 53 Secs.

Notes: Arranged: Arvo Pärt (1989)

3. The Last Sleep of the Virgin
Composer: John Tavener
Performer: Simon Rowland-Jones (Viola), Charles Sewart (Violin), Levon Chilingirian (Violin),
Philip De Groote (Cello), Iain Simcock (Hand Bells)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chilingirian String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1991; England
Date of Recording: 7/1993
Venue: All Saints' Church, Petersham, England
Length: 24 Minutes 37 Secs.

4. The Hidden Treasure
Composer: John Tavener
Performer: Levon Chilingirian (Violin), Charles Sewart (Violin), Simon Rowland-Jones (Viola),
Philip De Groote (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chilingirian String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1989; England
Date of Recording: 7/1993
Venue: All Saints' Church, Petersham, England
Length: 31 Minutes 2 Secs.