programme
Arvo Pärt (*1935) Kanon Pokajanen
performers
Cappella Amsterdam
Daniel Reuss conductor
background
In order to contain a further outbreak of the coronavirus, dhe Dutch government, in consultation with the RIVM, extended the ban on events and gatherings until June 1. The safety of our visitors and choir members is paramount. For this reason, all of Cappella Amsterdam’s Kanon Pokajanen concerts have been canceled.
Arvo Pärt has been the most performed living composer in the world for several years running. But his monumental Kanon pokajanen (1997) for four-voice choir was rarely heard – until Daniel Reuss and Cappella Amsterdam took charge of the masterpiece. A previous performance at the Muziekgebouw in 2015 was a great success, and the CD recording received 5-star reviews and an Edison Klassiek award. Pärt poured his deeply spiritual quest for forgiveness into magnificent music, seemingly made for the golden voices of Cappella Amsterdam.
With seemingly simple means, Pärt creates a vast richness of sound possibilities in Kanon Pokajanen, from the thunderous opening to monophonic recitatives and voluptuous chords A canon is a hymn from Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and the Kanon Pokajanen is the canon of penance. Pärt wrote the work for the 750th anniversary of the Cologne Cathedral and dedicated it to Tõnu Kaljuste and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, who premiered it in 1998 at the cathedral. Cappella Amsterdam wants to start a new tradition by performing the Kanon pokajanen every year.