Silencio:
1.
Tabula Rasa: I.
Ludus -- Con moto (
Arvo Pärt)
2. Tabula Rasa: II.
Silentium -- Senza moto (Arvo Pärt)
3.
Company for
String Orchestra:
Movement I (
Philip Glass)
4. Company for String Orchestra: Movement II (Philip Glass)
5. Company for String Orchestra: Movement
III (Philip Glass)
6. Company for String Orchestra: Movement IV (Philip Glass)
7. "
Come In!": Movement I (
Vladimir Martynov)
8. "Come In!": Movement II (Vladimir Martynov)
9. "Come In!": Movement III (Vladimir Martynov)
10. "Come In!": Movement IV (Vladimir Martynov)
11. "Come In!": Movement V (Vladimir Martynov)
12. "Come In!": Movement VI (Vladimir Martynov)
13. Darf ich (Arvo Pärt)
About this
album:
Silencio is a meditative collection of
20th-century works for string orchestra, including works by Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass, and Vladimir Martynov. The disc is bookended with works by
Pärt, whose Tabula Rasa opens the disc. The work was written for and dedicated to Kremer, violinist
Tatjana Grindenko and conductor
Eri Klas (all featured on this recording), who premiered it in
1977 in
Estonia. It was recorded live for release on
ECM later that year. Tabula Rasa is scored for string orchestra, solo violins and prepared piano.
Philip Glass's Company was originally composed for a
Public Theater production of a play based on
Samuel Beckett's short novel of the same name.
Later it became
Glass's
String Quartet # 2 and received its first recording by
Kronos Quartet, on their self-titled debut, in
1986. It is heard here in an
adaptation for string orchestra.
The Russian composer Vladimir Martynov wrote "Come in!" for Kremer and Grindenko, who premiered the work in
Leningrad in
1988. A six-movement work for two solo violins and string orchestra, it takes its title from the following text, written by the composer:
The staircase to
Heaven is inside your heart; you enter through the door of your soul.
Our whole life is but an attempt to find this miraculous entrance.
All our deeds are but a timid knocking on this mysterious door
All our hopes are to hear a voice that would respond, 'Come In!'
Closing the disc is the world premiere recording of Arvo Pärt's Darf ich
... (May I), recorded in
Berlin last year.
Kremer founded the
Kremerata Baltica, an orchestra of young musicians from the three
Baltic States, in
1996. They first performed in
Riga, Latvia in
February 1997. Kremer had long sought to share his rich artistic experience with young musicians in his native
Latvia and the
Baltic region, and was prompted to form a more lasting relationship with the artists, as a way to give back to the community that fostered his own musical growth. The Kremerata Baltica is made up of musicians whose average age is 25 and who hail from Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia. Kremer, who acts as the group's artistic director, said, in an interview for
The New York Times, that it functions as "a musical democracy...open-minded, self-critical, a continuation of my musical spirit."
The Kremerata Baltica, who the
Los Angeles Times calls, "...extraordinary young players...they animate everything their bows touch..." recently signed an exclusive, six-record agreement with
Nonesuch Records, inaugurated earlier this year by the release of Eight
Seasons. This reorchestration of
Piazzolla's
Cuatro estaciones porteñas, paired with the
Vivaldi classic, brings with it a new way of listening to both works, and the possibility of discovering the connections they share.
- published: 13 Jun 2013
- views: 813136