Art and Music: Masters of the Modern Age, Vol. 1 Description CD with full-color, illustrated, explanatory booklet. Edgar Degas (1834-1917) is remembered as the painter of ballet dancers, but the scope of his genius ranged widely. An acute and witty observer, he depicted his native Paris in it's many diverse aspects, often hinting at a social isolation and unease hidden beneath the colorful surface. On this CD, the world of Degas is given a musical perspective with a carefully chosen selection of pieces by the finest composers of his time. Inside, Hugh Griffith provides explanatory notes on his life and musical environment

Disc Two Description Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) received almost no recognition until the last years of his life, but is now widely regarded as one of the key figures in the development of modern art. His structural use of color was the starting point for the Fauve painters; his strongly geometric approach to composition led directly to Cubism. On this CD, the world of Cézanne is given a musical perspective with a carefully chosen selection of pieces by the finest composers of his time. Inside, Hugh Griffith provides explanatory notes on his life and musical environment.

Disk Three Description During the past 20 years, Arvo Pärt has consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant contemporary composers with a sequence of magnificent sacred choral works. Dating from between 1990 and 2001, the works on this recording exemplify Pärt's mature idiom at it's most harmonically expressive. If Triodion represents his music at it's starkest and most unadorned, Kanon Pokajanen, the composer's largest work after the 1982 St John Passion (Naxos 8.555860), is music of a dark-hued and intensely felt contemplation. Pärt's emotionally-charged Bogoróditse Djévo, is a vibrant tribute to the Virgin Mary. The Elora Festival Singers' recording of Pärt's Berliner Messe can be heard on Naxos 8.557299.