Pärt: Passio

Helsinki Chamber Choir certainly have the measure of the piece in their new recording. Conductor Nils Schweckendiek is unafraid to allow space around the music, with some daringly long pauses... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2021, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Oct 2021
Catalogue No: BIS2612
Label: BIS
Length: 71 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

November 2021

Editor's Choice
International Classical Music Awards

2022

Nominated - Choral

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Pärt: Passio (St John Passion)

Work length1:11:04

$17.00

$20.40

$29.75

Jan Lehtola (organ), Sampo Haapaniemi, Linnéa Sundfær Casserly, Sirkku Rintamäki, Mats Lillhannus, Jussi Linnanmäki, Marko Ylönen (cello), Laura Vikman (violin), Anni Haapaniemi (oboe), Mikko-Pekka Svala (bassoon), Martti Anttila
Helsinki Chamber Choir
Nils Schweckendiek

Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi

Track length1:15

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Haec cum dixisset Jesus

Track length5:29

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Jesum Nazarenum

Track length6:02

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Quia expedit, unum hominem mori

Track length10:54

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Numquid et tu ex discipulis ejus es?

Track length6:16

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Et vocavit Jesum, et dixit ei

Track length14:13

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Crucifige, crucifige eum

Track length8:46

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Erat autem Parasceve Paschae

Track length6:35

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Noli scribere, Rex Judaeorum

Track length7:05

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Postea sciens Jesus quia omnia consummata sunt

Track length2:52

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Qui passus es pro nobis

Track length1:37

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Composed in 1982, Arvo Pärt’s Passio has retained its place as one of the foremost works of sacred music of the late 20th century. It has been called a minimalist masterpiece, and is a seminal work in the composer’s oeuvre – the culmination of his so-called tintinnabuli style, and the first in a line of large-scale choral works on religious themes. Passion settings have a long history, with polyphonic settings for choral performance beginning in the 15th century and continuing up until the high baroque and the monumental works by Johann Sebastian Bach. In his Passion, Pärt looks back to an older tradition, however – the medieval one of a single voice chanting the text. As a result, the narrative –chapters 18 and 19 of the Gospel of St. John –becomes the basis for sustained spiritual contemplation rather than the drama of Bach’s Passions. Another important distinction from earlier Passion settings is Pärt’s treatment of the Evangelist, who narrates the story. Rather than a single voice, he employs a quartet: soprano, alto, tenor and bass, accompanied by an ensemble of four instruments. The only other instrument used in the work is the organ, again in contrast to the larger instrumental forces of the Bach Passions. This contemplative work is here performed by the Helsinki Chamber Choir under Nils Schweckendiek.

Reviews

Christmas 2021

Helsinki Chamber Choir certainly have the measure of the piece in their new recording. Conductor Nils Schweckendiek is unafraid to allow space around the music, with some daringly long pauses after the words of Jesus. These are proclaimed by baritone Sampo Haapaniemi with an icon’s mesmerising absence of superficial emotion.

November 2021

What impresses me immediately about this new recording is the lustrous depth of the sound of the choir and solo singers, which brings out every dissonance and resolution almost forensically.

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