Pärt: Berliner Messe; Magnificat; Annum per Annum; 7 Antiphons

In 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a longstanding ban on sacred music was lifted in Estonia, composer Arvo Pärt’s native country; his Berliner Messe was written shortly thereafter in response to a commission. Notably, it includes a resetting of his earlier composition Summa, written in Estonia at a time when it was illegal to publicly profess religious faith; by reusing that melody for the “Credo” (“I believe”) section of his Mass and recasting it in a major key, Pärt makes a powerful politico-religious statement. This program also includes his setting of the Beatitudes and other works in Latin, including a Magnificat setting. The singing by Polyphony is outstanding.