Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice, April 2003

Naxos is proud to present a brand new recording of Arvo Part’s Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem, a major milestone in Naxos’ recording legacy and only the third recording of the work to be released on compact disc. Composed in 1982, it is one of the works in which Part uses “tintinnabulist” techniques – the sound or music of bells. “I build with the most primitive materials – with the triad. … The three notes of a triad are like bells. And that is why I call it tintinnabulation”. (Arvo Part). This new recording by Oxford-based ensemble Tonus Peregrinus offers a radically different take on the music from existing recordings. When recording the work, the ensemble followed all Part’s score markings to the letter. After the recording session, the disc was sent to the composer who listened carefully and decided to clarify exactly what he had intended by the score markings; the present recording was then edited according to his new “rules”. This is therefore the very first recording of the Passio to take account of the composer’s recent clarification of precise note and rest durations.