The works of John Tavener and Arvo Pärt share many features, chiefly modal harmony, soft dynamics, slow tempi, and regular repetition of phrases without development. But the strongest characteristic of both composers' music is a tendency toward static ambience. In Tavener's case, the qualities of timelessness and lack of movement are fundamental to his purposes, considering that he regards his music as icons in sound. The Last Sleep of the Virgin and The Hidden Treasure draw the listener into a reverential mood that is, ...
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The works of John Tavener and Arvo Pärt share many features, chiefly modal harmony, soft dynamics, slow tempi, and regular repetition of phrases without development. But the strongest characteristic of both composers' music is a tendency toward static ambience. In Tavener's case, the qualities of timelessness and lack of movement are fundamental to his purposes, considering that he regards his music as icons in sound. The Last Sleep of the Virgin and The Hidden Treasure draw the listener into a reverential mood that is, paradoxically, both calm and suspenseful, suggestive of an ecstatic experience that transcends simple emotions. The music moves very slowly, with an almost indeterminate pulse, and is more spatial than linear in conception. The Last Sleep is made even more dreamlike and otherworldly through the use of handbells, which lend an aural glow to the strings' disembodied tone. Pärt's Summa and Fratres, shorter pieces with a less powerful effect than the Tavener works, are nonetheless in the...
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Add this copy of Tavener: Last Sleep of the Virgin / the Hidden Treasure to cart. $19.98, new condition, Sold by We Ship FAST to YOU rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wilmington, NC, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by Virgin Classics Digital.
