Eastern Mysticism in Arvo Pärt’s Fratres
Almost unbearably beautiful and sublimely still, Pärt's Fratres ("Brothers") is a classic work of late 20th century minimalism influenced by Eastern mysticism. The work exists in myriad versions for any number of performing forces, from violin and piano to the version heard tonight for wind octet and percussion.
Bayolo's secular meditation
Armando Bayolo’s Hesychasmos is, perhaps, a more secular meditation on the desire for stillness as a refreshing, revitalizing practice in human experience. Stillness, here, is achieved through slow motion harmonic movement and a sheer sensual enjoyment of pure sound, particularly the resonance of the National Gallery’s very reverberant space.
Contradiction and Irony in Gorecki's Requiem
Henryk Gorecki’s Kleines Requiem für eine Polka is a piece of inherent contradictions and ironies, with outer movements that channel the stillness of this program’s title broken by two raucous inner movements.
Great Noise Ensemble performs Stillness in the East Gallery of the National Gallery of Art at 6:30pm on Sunday, December 9, 2012. The performance is free. Please visit the National Gallery of Art's website for more information:
http://www.nga.gov/
