Reviewed by John Irvine

It's been three years since Part's last officially sanctioned release Te Deum'; now his new disc containing three works -"Litany", "Psalom" and "Trisagion" - has finally been released. Was the wait worth it? It's difficult to tell. The Part trademarks are there: a group of vocal soloists echoed and answered by a choir which nurture a spirituality from the dawn of time, descending chordal structures delicately created by soft woodwind, string and brass combinations, held together by a judicious use of absolute silence where the piece is allowed to breathe. As always it seems that to displace a single note would be to desecrate the entire work. In Amadeus Salieri claimed to hear the voice of God in Mozart's music; in Part's music we seem to hear not only his voice but his heartbeat as well. It is too easy to dismiss Part's music as insubstantial because of its simplicity, its repetitive nature and its use of silence or pauses: after all there is nothing as insubstantial as air, yet nothing so vital. Through its brief 23 minutes "Litany" takes us through the prayers of an ancient saint, reaching a crisis close to the end, after which there is peace. While a piece which is likely to prove popular in time, it is initially not as strong as some of his other recent choral pieces. The other two pieces on the album are scored for a string orchestra. "Psalom" is the more insubstantial of the two, six minutes of gently oscillating and pulsating strings. "Trisagion" uses a similar approach, so much so that without keeping an eye on the track indicator on the CD player you could easily believe them to be the same piece. Its 12 minutes allow part to develop its simple theme as a kind of wordless prayer or meditation. Compared with many other classical CDs, the playing time of this release is extremely short, and yet it is hard to see what other existing piece could have been put on the disc which would have enhanced the three new pieces rather than detract from them by familiarity. Possibly one for the Part fans only.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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