Da pacem Domine (Pärt)

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Arvo Pärt, 2008

Da pacem Domine (Give Peace, Lord) is a composition for choir by Arvo Pärt (* 1935) based on a Latin prayer for peace . He wrote the work in 2004 for four voices a cappella . Various versions, including those with strings and for strings alone, have been published by Universal Edition .

history

The work was commissioned for Jordi Savall for an international peace concert in Barcelona on July 1st, 2004. Pärt began the composition two days after the train attacks in Madrid , in memory of the victims. It was first recorded on March 29, 2005 by the Hilliard Ensemble . In Spain it is performed annually in memory of the victims.

The text dates from the 6th or 7th century and is based on Bible verses ( 2 Kings 20.19  VUL , 2 Chr 10.12  VUL , Ps 72.6-7  VUL ). Da pacem Domine is in one movement, originally set for four choir voices. Pärt later wrote other versions, for voices and string orchestra, string orchestra alone or string quartet, and for choir and large orchestra. They were published by Universal Edition . The first performance of the version for choir and string orchestra was in Tallinn on May 18, 2007 in the Niguliste kirik with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste .

In a review of a CD with works by Pärt, David Vernier noted his subtle techniques, which form sounds from mixtures of voices and rudimentary harmony (“sonority, voicing, and rudimentary harmonies”), as well as a subordinate role of the Rhythm and melody elements that are only hinted at ("an almost complete subordination of rhythmic influence and the relegation of melody to a more or less implied presence").

A review in The New York Times highlights the composer's timeless renunciation of musical role models (“temporal rootlessness”), which on the surface produce slowly moving meditative works. The reviewer continues: " Da Pacem Domine (2004), a prayer for peace, is cast in sustained tones with little harmonic growth and hardly any momentum, yet a listener is drawn inexorably into its hypnotic four-part unaccompanied vocal texture" ( Da Pacem Domine (2004), a prayer for peace, appears in sustained tones with little harmonic development and almost no movement, but the listener is inevitably drawn into the hypnotic texture produced by four unaccompanied voices).

Recordings

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arvo Pärt: Lamentate ( English ) audivivocem.org. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ In principio ( English ). EMI , 2009.
  3. ↑ a b c Arvo Pärt / Da pacem Domine a cappella . Universal Edition. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  4. ↑ Da pacem Domine, in diebus nostris ( English ) hymnary.org. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  5. ↑ a b Arvo Pärt / Da pacem Domine for choir and string orchestra . Universal Edition. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  6. ^ David Vernier: Elusive Preaching, and a Beatle's Conservative Classicism ( English ) classicstoday.com. October 4, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  7. ↑ Allan Kozinn : Elusive Preaching, and a Beatle's Conservative Classicism (English) . In: The New York Times , October 8, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2014.  

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