Lamentate

Lamentate, composed in 2002 and recorded for ECM in 2005, represents a significant expansion of Arvo Pärt's 'tintinnabuli' style. Inspired by Anish Kapoor's massive 'Marsyas' sculpture at the Tate Modern, the work is Pärt's largest instrumental piece, featuring a solo piano and a full orchestra. Unlike the purely serene choral works that defined his earlier career, Lamentate is characterized by dramatic, almost violent shifts in volume and texture. The album also includes 'Da pacem Domine', a choral work commissioned shortly after the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which serves as a somber, meditative prelude to the main event. The recording features the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and pianist Alexei Lubimov, whose performance captures the delicate, bell-like precision required by Pärt's score. It is a pivotal work that proves Pärt's minimalist language can sustain large-scale, dramatic orchestral forms without losing its spiritual core.