Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

If you have ever read Rudolf Otto's magnum opus The Idea Of The Holy or perhaps heard about it from your reading of C S Lewis who greatly admired it, you will have come across the term numinous. It is a difficult word to define, having to do with experiencing the inexpressible as revealed by God of himself. However if you want to hear the numinous I suggest you listen to the work of Arvo Part and in particular this monumental composition from 1998. The texts are in Church Slavonic, the traditional language of the Russian Orthodox Church and their theme is that of repentance. The music is slow yet powerful with the bass drone we expect from Orthodox music and when the higher voices lift us heavenwards - even if we do not understand a word of Church Slavonic - we truly enter into the presence of the numinous. Christians seek the numinous when we contemplate God and his gracious dealings with us, the non-believer may find it in anything that is beautiful, including this music. Daniel Reuss and Cappella Amsterdam give a splendid reading of what must be challenging music to perform, making it sound easier than it is. Listening with the translation open in front of me became a time of contemplation and listening while driving in the car made for a tranquil journey. Part, like Bach, often returns to ideas and reuses, recycles, and revises them so you will hear echoes of 'Kanon Pokajanen' elsewhere in his corpus. For me, this is Part at his best helped in no small part by the superb a cappella singing of the choir.

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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