Arvo Pärt's Passio stands among the defining sacred works of our time. Since emerging from Soviet Estonia in the late 1970s with his tintinnabuli style, Pärt has become one of the most performed living composers in the world — his music sought out by listeners who may never have set foot in a concert hall. There is a reason for that reach: his language is elemental, contemplative, and — in Passio above all — profoundly human.
Setting the Passion narrative from the Gospel of John, the work unfolds with the stillness of stone and the weight of eternity, each syllable granted the same unhurried gravity, whether whispered or proclaimed. Peter Walker gives voice to Jesus with grounded, unwavering authority; Thomas Drewrenders Pilate with quiet intelligence and moral complexity; Anchorites Ensemble carries the Evangelist's thread with clarity and restraint, while The Emmanuel Choir embodies the people — our collective voice in this most ancient and most human of dramas.
Written in 1982, Passio asks nothing of its listeners but presence. In return, it offers something rare: music that seems to arrive from beyond the reach of ordinary time.
Thomas Drew, tenor
Peter Walker, bass
Anchorites Ensemble
Christian Lane, direction