Como cierva sedienta

After a period of focusing on a cappella choral works, culminating in the substantial Kanon pokajanen, this is Arvo Pärt's first work for solo soprano and orchestra. He has chosen the verses of Psalms 42 and 43 as his evocative and powerful text and, not for the first time, has striven to set the words in the native language of his audience. The idiosyncratic inflections of Spanish are reflected in the music, as is the purity of Rozario's soprano voice and the psalmist's yearning. Large orchestral forces never swamp the soloist: since fragments in a variety of rhythmic patterns are passed from instrument to instrument, the soprano line runs like the brightest thread through an open-weave tapestry.