Arvo Pärt

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and conductor Kristjan Järvi were both refugees from Soviet cultural oppression. Järvi's father was a friend of the composerwhen the two men worked together at Estonian Radio-Television in the '60sand Järvi continues the family relationship by conducting a Berlin orchestra and chorus on the world-premiere recording of Pärt's Stabat mater and Cantique des degrés along with his 1971 Symphony No. 3. Pärt's music floats heavenward toward a transcendent experience where time melds with space. It can be heard as a development parallel to the Buddhist-steeped minimalism of Philip Glass or the Indonesian gamelan behind Steve Reich, yet appreciated for its distinct, evanescent beauty without reference to any musical movement.