Arvo Pärt: The Deer's Cry

Vox Clamantis

EN / DE
The second ECM New Series album to fully showcase pure-toned Estonian vocal group Vox Clamantis is devoted to compositions by their great countryman, Arvo Pärt. This album – titled The Deer’s Cry after its first track, an incantatory work for a cappella mixed choir – is also the latest in an illustrious line of ECM New Series releases to feature Pärt’s music. Along with such classic works as Da pacem Domine the new album includes a premiere recording of the a cappella piece Habitare Fratres. There is also an a cappella version of Alleluia-Tropus, which Vox Clamantis previously recorded alongside instruments for the acclaimed New Series album Adam’s Lament. Rarely recorded material makes up nearly half of this new release, including three pieces with instrumental accompaniment: Von Angesicht zu Angesicht, Sei gelobt, du Baum and Veni Creator.
Das zweite Album der ECM New Series, auf dem ausschließlich das estnische Gesangsensemble Vox Clamantis mit seinem künstlerischen Leiter/Dirigenten Jaan-Eik Tulve zu hören ist, ist gänzlich Kompositionen seines berühmten Landsmannes Arvo Pärt gewidmet. Von allen derzeit lebenden Komponisten wurde Pärts Musik in den letzten fünf Jahren weltweit am Häufigsten zur Aufführung gebracht.  Dieses Album – nach dem ersten Stück The Deer’s Cry benannt, einem geradezu beschwörenden Werk für gemischten A-capella-Chor – ist außerdem die jüngste einer illustren Reihe von ECM New Series Veröffentlichungen, die Kompositionen Pärts beinhalten – jener Musik, die Manfred Eicher 1984 dazu inspirierte die New Series ins Leben zu rufen.
Zusammen mit bekannten Werken wie Da pacem Domine enthält das neue Album zudem  Ersteinspielungen der A-cappella-Werke Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima und Habitare Fratres, genauso wie von Alleluia-Tropus, das Vox Clamantis zuvor schon mit instrumentaler Begleitung für das gefeierte New Series Album Adam‘s Lament einspielte. Nahezu die Hälfte dieses neuen Albums besteht aus selten aufgenommenem Material, darunter drei Stücke mit Instrumentalbegleitung: Von Angesicht zu Angesicht, Sei gelobt, du Baum und Veni Creator.
Featured Artists Recorded

2007-2014

Original Release Date

09.09.2016

  • 1The Deer's Cry
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    04:10
  • 2Von Angesicht zu Angesicht
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    03:57
  • 3Alleluia-Tropus
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    03:05
  • 4Virgencita
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    05:54
  • 5Veni Creator
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    02:32
  • 6Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    01:32
  • 7And One of the Pharisees
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    08:10
  • 8Da pacem Domine
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    05:21
  • 9Most Holy Mother of God
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    04:56
  • 10Sei gelobt, du Baum
    (Arvo Pärt, Viivi Luik)
    04:23
  • 11Habitare fratres in unum
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    01:56
  • 12Summa
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    06:02
  • 13Gebet nach dem Kanon
    (Arvo Pärt, Traditional)
    10:24
The Estonian vocal ensemble Vox Clamantis displays admirable command of the composer’s art. The pieces are mostly miniatures, drawn from multiple decades of Pärt’s output. Several have been recorded before. But the takes by Vox Clamantis always tease out something new. In the finale from ‘Kanon Pokajanen’, they offer a brighter sound than previously heard on ECM. And their renditions of more popular Pärt fare (such as ‘Da pacem Domine’) are dependably excellent. Fans of the composer may have heard as much as half of this program in other interpretations. Yet the performances and engineering here argue persuasively for new experiences of this music.
Seth Colter Walls, Pitchfork
 
‘The Deer’s Cry’, ‘Von Angesicht zu Angesicht’, ou encore la puissance de ses alléluias déplacent des montagnes de douleur: œuvres religieuses, elles atteignent des  recoins intimes aussi bien que des sommets d’intensité, à la manière des cathédrales sonores élevées au temps de la polyphonie . Par le génial et fidèle ensemble Vox Clamantis de Jaan-Eik Tulve.
Elisabeth Hess, La Liberté
 
Vokalkunst, die das Ensemble Vox Clamantis aus Tallinn (Leitung: Jaan-Erik Tulve), auch mit dem Einsatz vibratolos intonierender Solostimmen, mit großem Einfühlungsvermögen realisiert. Interessant der subtile Gebrauch von Instrumentalkolorit – es drängt sich nie als Eigenwert auf, sondern dient immer der zarten Unterstützung des ganz im Vordergrund stehenden vokalen Anteils.
Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich, Faustkultur
 
Vox Clamantis boast an exceptional purity and sweetness of tone that perfectly showcases the spare beauty and emotional immediacy of Pärt’s music, as well as its devotional intensity. Vox Clamantis’ account of the title track, ‘Alleluia-Tropus’, and the breathtaking ‘Da Pacem Domine’ are now, in my opinion, the versions against which all future accounts will be measured. No classical collection should be without this utterly gorgeous recording.
Rick Anderson, CD Hotlist
 
Dirigent Jaan-Eik Tulve lässt den Miniaturen die Zeit, die sie zur Entfaltung brauchen, sein Ensemble Vox Clamantis verfügt über die intonatorische Reinheit, aus der die spirituelle Reinheit der Musik erst erwächst, und über die Präzision und Disziplin, die die Mutter der Kontemplation ist. Stück für Stück, Mosaikstein für Mosaikstein fügt sich so das stimmige Porträt eines Komponisten zusammen, bei dem die Kunst der Beschränkung der Schlüssel ist zur Unendlichkeit.
Thorsten Preuß, BR Klassik
 
Es herrscht wahrlich kein Mangel an Aufnahmen mit Arvo Pärts Chorwerken, doch ‚The Deer’s Cry‘ kann aufgrund des mit Bedacht zusammengestellten Programms, das mehrere Ersteinspielungen beinhaltet, und der fachkundigen Interpretation der estnischen SängerInnen als Referenzeinspielung empfohlen werden
Ingo J. Biermann, Nordische Musik
 
This programme is a fine mixture of well-known works such as ‘Da Pacem Domine’ and ‘The Deer’s Cry’ as well as première recordings of ‘Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima’ and’ Habitare Fratres’. Of added interest is an a cappella version of ‘Alleluia-Tropus’, written especially for Vox Clamantis and previously heard from them on the Grammy Award-winning ECM recording Adam’s Lament. Basically, with so much rarely recorded material this superbly performed and produced release is a ‘must-have’ for all of Arvo Pärt’s many fans. […] With translucent sound and transcendent performances, this is another Arvo Pärt disc to add to ECM’s already essential catalogue from this composer.
Dominy Clements, Music Web International
 
It is hard to imagine an ear not being interested by Pärt’s music, especially when it is performed by Vox Clamantis. It speaks with an eloquent yet simple sincerity that cannot fail to arrest even a casual listener, and to invite him or her inside. It works hard for, and earns, the right to be quiet and spare; there’s nothing gimmicky or trivial about this its pauses, its silences, and its many moments in which a single voice shines out like a lonely candle in an otherwise darkened church […] As the world becomes more complicated, and, in many ways, more disgusting – I am writing this as the American presidential election is reaching an orgasm of hate – it is good to know that CDs like this one are available to get us through the worst of it. Very enthusiastically recommended – to just about anyone, really.
Raymond Tuttle, Fanfare
 
On the printed page, Arvo Pärt’s ‘The Deer’s Cry’ does not look difficult: not too many notes, no tricky harmonic side-steps to negotiate. And yet the level of artistry necessary to achieve the kind of living, breathing performance given here by the Estonian choir Vox Clamantis is a rarity […] The 15 singers sound in complete, comfortable possession of the music and its incantatory intentions – unsurprisingly, as they have extensive experience performing it, and Pärt himself was at the recording sessions. […] this grippingly authentic and superbly sung collection may now be the finest single-disc introduction to Pärt’s music.
Terry Blain, BBC Music Magazine
The second ECM New Series album to fully showcase Estonian vocal group Vox Clamantis is devoted to compositions by their great countryman, Arvo Pärt – whose music has been the most performed globally of any living composer over the past five years from his 75th birthday leading up to his 80th last September. This album – titled The Deer’s Cry after its first track, an incantatory work for a cappella mixed choir – is also the latest in a long, illustrious line of ECM New Series releases to feature Pärt’s compositions, the very music that inspired Manfred Eicher to establish the New Series imprint in 1984. Along with such classic works as Da Pacem Domine the new album includes first-time recordings of the a cappella pieces Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima and Habitare Fratres. There is also an a cappella version of Alleluia-Tropus, which Vox Clamantis previously recorded alongside instruments for the Grammy Award-winning ECM New Series album Adam’s Lament. Rarely recorded material makes up nearly half of this new release, which includes three pieces with subtle instrumental accompaniment: Von Angesicht zu Angesicht, Sei gelobt, du Baum and Veni Creator.
 
The history of Vox Clamantis with Pärt’s music dates to 1999, when the group performed its signature Gregorian chant between the sections of his iconic organ piece Annum per Annum, a creative touch that pleased the composer. Pärt was also attracted to the ensemble’s pure-toned sound in chant. The first New Series album by Vox Clamantis, the 2012 release Filia Son, illustrates this special sonic quality, as it features the group in medieval music from Gregorian chant to works by Perotin and Hildegard von Bingen. About the group’s way with this music and its connection to Pärt, leader Jaan-Eik Tulve says: “Gregorian chant is monophonic music that emphasizes the blend of voices, so working on vocal sound, color and blend has been one of the constant priorities of our ensemble. In our early years, we only sang Gregorian chant and early polyphony, but we began adding contemporary music to our repertoire – and Arvo Pärt’s music stands closest to the roots of chant. In time, we sang more and more of it. Arvo would bring us songs to perform, with Veni Creator written with the monophonic singing tradition in mind. Then he composed Alleluia-Tropus especially for us.”
 
When it comes to some of Pärt’s most popular pieces, such as Da Pacem Domine, Tulve explains the Vox Clamantis approach: “Even though verticality is important in Arvo’s music, we’re also always searching for horizontality, for the legato, the smooth merger of different sounds and colors. I’ve never willfully aimed to do something wholly differently than others; rather, I strive for that which in my own eyes seems right and honest. To get at the core of a piece, one simply has to sing it a lot at first. Only then will one gradually begin to grasp its true contents – so as to finally omit everything superfluous. It is very characteristic of our ensemble to try and achieve maximal expression by minimal means.”
 
Most of the album was recorded at Tallinn Transfiguration Church in Estonia, with the composer present to work with the singers. “Arvo’s pointers are always very illuminating,” Tulve says. “He doesn’t tell you to sing one way or another; instead, he tries to guide the interpreter, by way of mental images, into the world in which, or out of which, he wants his work to be performed. Arvo also has a brilliant sense of humor, and this is always an important liberating factor in the creative process. It happens that, wanting to give his composition more energy, he will even start dancing along with it.
 
“Arvo’s music evokes such simple, yet profound emotions that listening to it is liberating and ablutionary,” Tulve concludes. “This has been proved time and again when we have performed his music at many concerts all over the world, to very different people. Arvo’s music has enraptured great spiritual leaders and radical atheists alike.”
 
Tulve and Vox Clamantis will perform their first concert marking the release of The Deer’s Cry on September 18, 2016, the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City. There are also album launch concerts in Bergamo, Italy, on October 1 and in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on October 6, with further concerts following in Germany and Estonia.
YEAR DATE VENUE LOCATION
2025 June 26 Great Evangelical Church Bratislava, Slovakia
2025 June 28 Abbaye de Noirlac Noirlac, France
2025 July 07 Festival Leading Voices Tallinn, Estonia
2025 July 22 Pärnu Muusikafestival Pärnu, Estonia
2025 July 28 Saint Olav church Vormsi, Estonia
2025 November 15 Christ Church Cathedral Oxford, United Kingdom