Passio [Alf:99-8555860]

Born near Tallinn in Estonia in 1935, Arvo P¤rt emigrated in 1980 and settled in Berlin. Soon afteremigrating, P¤rt completed the St John Passionwhich he based on his new- found tintinnabuli principle that "the melody and the accompaniment is one". Settings of the Passion are part of a very early tradition in the Church, and in P¤rt's setting it is the text itself which determines the musical structure and even the duration of the silences between the words. Using the most concentrated of means, P¤rt communicates the depth and powerof the ancient Passion story in a new and compelling way.