Cello Octet Amsterdam & Arvo Part - Summa (2026) [Hi-Res]

The internationally acclaimed Cello Octet Amsterdam shares Summa, a profound release centred on the music of Arvo Pärt – the legendary Estonian composer known for his minimalist works of spiritual depth and often cited as the world’s most performed living composer. The album is the first-ever recording of selected works by Pärt reimagined for eight cellos, specially rearranged by the composer himself over the course of 10 years in close collaboration with the Octet.

Summa is an invitation: to listen deeply, to connect, and to experience music as a shared human experience. As the ensemble reflects, “If only a grain of beauty has been added to this world by sharing this music, our task is achieved.”

The album title Summa takes its name from one of Pärt’s tintinnabuli works. At the heart of Summa lies a concept of togetherness that extends beyond the performers to the listener. The Octet describes the experience as “a musical embrace which embodies humanity in the universal love of music”. Drawing on Pärt’s own metaphor of listeners as a “prism refracting white light into color”, the project invites audiences to become active listeners in the musical moment.

The album features newly realized arrangements of Pärt’s compositions for eight cellos, transforming his works into a unified sonic body of strings. The Octet notes that in performing this repertoire, individual expression gives way to collective presence: “This music comes to life when the eight of us become one organism, with one heartbeat, one breath, one expression.”

Working in close collaboration with the Octet, Pärt – who rarely creates re-arrangements – specially re-arranged his music for the unique set-up of eight cellos. In some ways, he transformed and reshaped past pieces of choral and organ into new works. Through the course of 10 years from 2008 to 2018, Pärt and the Octet collaborated intensely with the composer experimenting in rehearsals with different textures and keys to work out the most resonant and fitting translation for the cello ensemble.

Remarking upon their collaboration, Pärt says: “The Octet is worth its weight in gold. I discovered this ensemble 10 years too late.” The Octet fondly remembers Pärt: “We remember Arvo walking into the room like an elderly man, but as the rehearsal progressed, he became more and more this happy child with twinkly eyes, dancing through the room.”

Recorded with exceptional sensitivity, the sessions embraced stillness and sonic purity. In the final track, Pari Intervallo, the music is played so softly that even the faint ambient sounds of the hall become part of the listening experience - underscoring Pärt’s belief that silence is as meaningful as sound.