Arvo Pärt is a contemporary composer born in Estonia in 1935, who established the compositional technique known as tintinnabuli, evoking a distinctive stillness and sense of meditation. Fleeing religious persecution in the Soviet Union, he defected to West Germany and went on to release numerous works on ECM. He is one of the great masters of contemporary music, an influence on post-classical and ambient alike.
The title piece, Silentium, is performed here at half tempo, said to heighten its healing effect. Also included are other Pärt classics: "Vater Unser" in a version for trombone and string ensemble, "Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka" performed solo by pianist Marcel Worm, and "Fratres for Strings and Percussion" performed by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra.

Some of the nuance in the above may be hard to fully grasp outside of a Christian cultural context, and who knows just how far music's power really extends — but coming from Mississippi Records, a label that has worked with early music from around the world and reissued Ethiopia's Emahoy, this is a rare proposition in the history of record culture. The word "healing" gets thrown around a lot, but amid the ever-broadening use of the concept of "ambient," is this perhaps an antithesis? A provocative release.
That said, tintinnabuli reportedly means something like "bell-like," and perhaps for that reason the pieces here even call to mind the sound of gamelan — simply pleasing to the ear. Give it a try. (Original Japanese text by Shhhhh)