Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

This budget-priced double CD is released for Pärt's 70th birthday. It is a unique survey of his career, from early experiments with serialism that risked the displeasure of his Soviet masters, through to musical collages inspired by Bach, such as "Collage über B-A-C-H", and on to his discovery of his tintinnabulation or bell style. The package includes an 80 page booklet by Nick Kimberley that places Pärt in his context and offers a clear and concise overview to his life and works. The two and a half hours of music is made up of 33 tracks from nine different albums. The obvious choices are present, including "Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten" and excerpts from 'Passio', 'Berliner Messe', 'Triodion' and 'Tabula Rasa' as well as some less expected works. Personally I would have preferred fewer but longer extracts but the obvious response to this is to go and listen to the complete works: most are taken from Naxos recordings and so are easy to find and outstanding value. My other criticism was that the booklet does not contain a full discography but when I followed Kimberley's advice and visited www.arvopart.org I found out why: Pärt's discography is massive, which makes this well thought out collection even more helpful.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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