Arvo Pärt, by virtue of his distinctive, soulful music, enthuses his audience like no other contemporary classical composer. This album is the first-ever compilation of all compositions by Pärt that have been transcribed for saxophone quartet – revealing them, so to speak, without words, “only” through breath, through oscillating columns of air. The Italian Alea Saxophone Quartet master this task brilliantly.

Even Hector Berlioz praised the sound of the, then newly invented, saxophone, likening it to the “mysterious vibrations of a bell, long after it has been struck.” Which takes us straight to Arvo Pärt’s unique style of composition, also known as tintinnabuli, Latin for: little bells.

And, since we’re on the subject of Latin: “anima” means: breath, air, soul, spirit –