Arbos
This CD features some great performances by Pärt  specialists of a variety of shorter works. The clamorousArbosfor brass  makes a startling opening for those who expect abstracted reverence; the lament,An den Wassern,has a startling ending that builds in intensity and  volume only to break off mid-phrase. The staticPari Intervallofor organ  leads intoDe Profundis, with its sense of slow but unstoppable movement  (every note the same length, every measure the same rhythm).Es Sanghas  an unexpectedly lilting tune for solo alto, puncutated by string exclamations;Summais a straightforward Pärt-style setting of the Credo.Arbosis repeated (this is oddly satisfying), and the disc closes with a masterpiece,  the unbearably sadStabat Materfor three voices and three strings.-- Matthew Westphal