Spiegel im Spiegel / Fratres / Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten / etc

"There's much to be said for the BIS disc. Despite a rather pale performance of the violin and piano version of Fratres (Gluzman and Yoffe redeem themselves on Spiegel im Spiegel) this might well be the disc I'd plump for because of the inclusion of lesser-known pieces: Annum per annum, the Quintettino, the lovely Arinuschka and the 1994 revision of the 1964 Collage über B-A-C-H. If you never expected to hear Pärt use the 'shave-and-a-haircut/two-bits' motif, catch the Quintettino.'
(Gramophone)

The musical world of Arvo Pärt has fascinated listeners and performers for several decades. The astonishing, breathtaking musical landscape he presents brings us to another dimension in which time seems to cease to exist. And his music reaches an audience which is wider than that of any other contemporary composer of art music today, teaching us that newly composed music can serve to fulfil spiritual needs. As BIS' contribution to the celebration of Pärt's 70th anniversary this year, they have looked back through their own mirror and brought together a number of works spanning more than three decades of his career: from 1964 to 1998. These include works for choir a cappella, for piano, organ, violin and piano, string quartet, orchestra etc etc. And among the musicians are names such as Neeme Järvi, Tõnu Kaljuste, the Swedish Radio Choir, pianist Alexei Lubimov, Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet and trumpet player Håkan Hardenberger. Some of the works are well-known, such as Fratres (in two versions: for string quartet and for violin and piano) and Spiegel im Spiegel; others less so, for instance Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka, written for the composer's daughter. A many-facetted retrospective, thus - and one that offers some intriguing insights into this fascinating composer, who himself has said: "If anybody wishes to understand me, they must listen to my music."