Album Review
Part, Arvo – “Litany ” – [Ecm Records]
Thurston Hunger 10/23/1996 A Library, CD
Technically black is not a color, but the absence thereof. Similarly, silence is not a sound, but its absence. And yet silence is critical to Arvo Part’s sonic palette. Aural afterimages echo as quiet caverns of drone. Dissonant tension stretches taught across gaps between notes.
Arvo Part is dynamics. Stark yet strangely serene solitude. Quiet majesty. Ethereality. “Litany” is an epic offering, English lyrics transcribed from prayer are felt rather than heard, thanks to the Hilliard Ensemble’s “volume pedal” grace. “Psalom” is a latticework of breaths on strings. “Trisagion” is the sound of a high priest walking at midnight among the dead upon a battlefield in a religious war. Faith and doubt commune. Music for epiphany.
Thurston Hunger 10/23 1996
you heard it 83 times on kfjc! most recently:
- 49 days ago, Atavist played Litany
- 1879 days ago, Double Felix played Psalom
- 1998 days ago, Sly Masterson played Litany
- 2125 days ago, Fox Populi played Psalom
- 3621 days ago, Dangerous Dan played Trisagion
12345 S. El Monte Road Los Altos Hills, California 94022
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Jawbone says
Rock on Ozzy Osbourne, boogie on reggae woman, and may Arvo Part be taken under God's angel's wing and rest in peace eternally (when he passes) for the gift he has given.
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