Arvo Part: Kanon Pokajanen
Arvo Pärt describes his encounter with the text and the history of setting this text to music thus:
“Many years ago, when I first became involved in the tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, I came across a text that made a profound impression on me although I cannot have understood it at the time. It was the Canon of Repentance.
Since then I have often returned these verses, slowly and arduously seeking to unfold their meaning. Two choral compositions (Nun eile ich...., 1990 and Memento, 1994) were the first attempts to approach the canon. I then decided to set it to music in its entirety-from beginning to end. This allowed me to stay with it, to devote myself to it; and, at the very least, its hold on me did not abate until I had finished the score. I had a similar experience while working on Passio.
It took over two years to compose the Kanon pokajanen, and the time "we spent together" was extremely enriching. That may explain why this music means so much to me.”
He was commissioned by KölnMusic GmbH to write a work commemorating the 750th anniversary of the building of Cologne Cathedral. He finished it in 1997 and it premiered at Cologne Cathedral on March 17, 1998, performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under the direction of Tõnu Kaljuste, to whom (both choir and conductor) this piece was dedicated.
[From Wikipedia]
Media info:
General
Format : MPEG Audio
File size : 142 MiB
Duration : 1h 2mn
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 320 Kbps
Writing library : LAME3.98r
Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Duration : 1h 2mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 320 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 142 MiB (100%)
Writing library : LAME3.98r
Encoding settings : -m j -V 4 -q 3 -lowpass 20.5
