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List Price: $8.99 | | Label: Naxos
Salesrank: 23571
Released: August 5, 1997 |
| Our Price: $6.28 |
| Used Price: $3.48 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Arvo Pärt: Fratres Track Listing:
1. Fratres, for strings & percussion
2. Fratres, for strings & percussion
3. Festina lente, for strings & harp ad lib
4. Fratres, for string quartet
5. Fratres, for cello & piano
6. Summa, for string orchestra
7. Fratres, for 4, 8 or 12 cellos
8. Fratres, for wind octet & percussion
9. Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, for string orchestra & bell
Arvo Pärt: Fratres Reviews:
A wealth of fine recordings of Arvo Part's finest work 
2008-10-13 - Arvo Part rarely ever slips up on any of his releases, and this collection is another great release. It comprises mostly of renditions of Fratres, some of which are arguably necessary for the piece to have everything it has to say gotten out, but some are a little less exciting than others. We all know which version of Fratres succeeds the most completely...The solo violin on track two is probably the most crystallized emotion of all of Part's tintinnabuli pieces. However, other versions are also interesting...Cello and Piano and String Quartet are also nice renditions. But the album is exhausting to listen to all in one place. There is such a thing as too much Fratres, even for Part fans. The other three pieces in the collection are equally as notable and could have been given as much attention. Festina Lente is a wonderfully tragic piece, while Summa is a bit more abrasive but equally emotional. The collection is clinched with the classic recording of Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, probably the finest tintinnabuli piece. Part composes simply wonderfully here, cascading the strings down towards a watery abyss where all of our emotions rest; fear, sadness, happiness, anger, love. It is all consolidated at the bottom, and it is a pleasure to reach it. This might not be the best Part collection to date, but fans of Fratres who want to hear the piece given more attention couldn't go wrong with this.
I love the intonation! 
2008-01-29 - There have been several reviews knocking the intonation on some of these pieces. Personally I love it. Most western ears are not used to anything but 12 tone equal temperament and think that anything outside of it is just bad musicianship. It is not. The way this is performed reminds the listener that they are not listening to crystalline harmonics hovering in the timeless void of eternity, but interesting human beings rubbing horse hair on gut strings with fleshy fingertips! It humanizes Fratres in a way that adds another level of fragility to a composition whose beauty is in its delicateness. The fragility of being alive. Listen to violinist Alexander Skwortsow play Messiaen and you'll understand.
Astonishing Music
2007-10-05 - I first heard Part on my car radio and actually parked my car to hear the entire piece. It was Fratres for strings and percussion, found on this CD. I had never heard such wonderful music before and as a Catholic I find myself strongly attracted to the sprituality that embues every note. This is a bargain CD with terrific performances, all very different, that will leave you in tears at the beauty. I don't know what is is about Part; he's a minimalist that touches something very profound with his music and this CD does justice to that. Buy it!
Articulating sacredness 
2006-05-15 - 3 1/2 stars
The repetition throughout the 6 variations on this theme do become tiresome upon further listening to this album as a whole; however, the different implementations of this theme are justified due to the subtle changes found throughout that somehow make this minimalist theme flourish with progressive subtlties. The interspersed 3 remaining tracks do a great deal to enhance the album on the whole, breaking the pace from the profound, yet tiresome thematic experiment. Reforming my belief that modern classical music can still retain a sense of majesty, yet making a spiritual connection the likes no other composer has ventured, Avro Part is for anyone who enjoys the truely intense silence of sacredness, but this album should be an unlikely starting point.
Oy vey intonation...
2003-06-24 - Well I like the idea of this CD, making a compilation of all the Fratres', but as usual with most naxos recordings, the string players are rather out of tune (especially the cellos). If you buy naxos recordings go for orchestral recordings and pianists (like the Shostakovich preludes and fugues is good). In the end though its probably worth the 7 bucks because the repetoire is so cool.
