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date: 02 November 2024

Pärt, Arvofree

Pärt, Arvofree

  • Andrew Shenton

(b Paide, Sept 11, 1935). Estonian composer.

1. Early career.

Pärt was the only child of Linda Anette and August Pärt. In 1938 he and his mother moved to Rakvere where he studied at Rakvere Music School (1945–53) and Rakvere Secondary School No.1 (1950–54). In 1954 he began studies at the Tallinn Music School, but this was interrupted by military service in the Soviet army (1954–6). In the fall of 1956 he was released from the army because of ill health and returned to the Tallinn Music School where he studied briefly with Veljo Tormis. From 1957 to 1963 he studied composition at the Tallinn Conservatory with Heino Eller, whom he cites as a profound personal and musical influence, and to whom he dedicated his Symphony no.1 ‘Polyphonic’ (1963). In 1958 he began work as a sound engineer at Estonian Radio, resigning in 1967 following a period of illness. Since then he has worked solely as a freelance composer. During this time he composed many works for children, including the Cantata Meie aed (‘Our Garden’), which received joint first prize at the All-Union Young Composers’ Competition in Moscow in 1962. He also composed music for films, documentaries, puppet films, and animations. Several of Pärt’s concert works from this period pioneered 20th-century techniques for Estonian composers, including the serial composition Nekrolog (1960), and several that utilize collage technique, including the cello concerto Pro et contra (1966), and Symphony no.2 (1966).

Photo of Arvo Pärt © Priit Geep, 2017; courtesy of the Pärt Centre

Pärt’s early career is one of experimentation. Credo (1968) is the culmination of these experiments, and although the work contained musical techniques that were not necessarily condoned by the Soviet Composers’ Union, the controversy surrounding the first performance was focused on the use of religious texts that went against the mandate of Soviet authorities who wanted to suppress religious expression. Credo employs multiple compositional techniques, including quotation of Bach’s Prelude in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier, which is used as both a model for the composition and a feature within it. It also includes a tone row based on the cycle of fifths, serialization of rhythm, tone clusters, aleatoric techniques, and advanced vocal technique (including shouts and whispers), before ending with an explicitly tonal C major chord.

Following Credo Pärt entered a period of contemplative reflection during which he rejected contemporary compositional techniques and turned his attention to the study of early music including Gregorian chant, the music of the Notre Dame school, and Renaissance polyphony. He composed comparatively little during this period, and only the Symphony no.3 (1971) remains in his official catalogue.

In 1972 Pärt joined the Orthodox Church and his profound faith has been at the forefront of his compositional practice ever since. He has claimed that ‘religion influences everything. Not just music, but everything’, and the majority of his works are religious and text-based. They range from intimate works for solo voice such as Es sang vor langen Jahren (1984) to large and elaborate works for chorus and orchestra such as Miserere (1989). His output also includes several works in which a text is used generatively to provide musical content but is not sung. These include Psalom (1985), Orient & Occident (2000), and Symphony no.4 ‘Los Angeles’ (2008).

In October 1976 the ensemble Hortus Musicus performed several new works in the style Pärt developed, named tintinnabuli from the Latin tintinnabulum meaning ‘bell’. Many of the works by which he is most well-known date from 1977, including Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, Fratres, Summa, and Tabula rasa. Since then Pärt has composed dozens of works using tintinnabulation as a technique.

2. Tintinnabulation.

Pärt’s tintinnabuli technique is elegantly simple: it consists of just two lines, a melodic line (M-voice) that usually moves by step, and a tintinnabulation line (T-voice) that only uses the pitches of a ‘tonic’ triad. These two lines are heard together as a single composite line, which prompted Pärt’s wife Nora to describe it in metaphoric terms as ‘1 + 1 = 1’. The first tintinnabuli piece, Für Alina (1976, for piano) sets out the basic procedures for tintinnabulation in a work that has become iconic. It is based on the mathematics of addition and subtraction within a framework of basic tintinnabulation. The right hand is the M-voice, the left hand is the T-voice, and each measure increases the number of heard pitches (dyads, sounding as one) by one, moving from one pitch to eight and back. This is also an example of Pärt conspicuously changing the pattern for more musical results, as he ends the piece not on a single dyad, but with three dyads that reinforce the B-minor tonality.

Manuscript of the opening of Für Alina (1976) from the Pärt Centre archives (© Universal Edition)

At its most simple, and in its early iterations, tintinnabuli music has several key features:

it is homophonic

it is homorhythmic

it does not adhere to the functional use of common practice harmony

it does not use chromatic pitches

it does not modulate

it uses musical phrases that are usually short

it utilizes silence as a significant compositional device

it is usually in a slow tempo

it does not change tempo

it uses dynamics that are generally quiet

it has a general mood of peaceful introspection

it uses a formalized compositional plan is based on a series of interrelated rules

In the Berliner Messe (1990/2002), the following techniques can be observed:

Alto and Bass are the M-voices, Soprano and Tenor are the T-voices.

Each syllable for the Kyrie is a quarter note, except Ky-, Chris-, and -le-, which are four quarter-note beats. The last syllable is always a dotted quarter note.

The voices are organized using the principle of addition and subtraction. The first Kyrie section begins with the Alto voice and adds another for each successive word in the order S + T + B. The Christe section starts with four voices and is reduced one-by-one from the bottom up until only the Soprano is left. The second Kyrie section repeats the first section, with the exception of the Soprano T-voice, and the Soprano and Tenor parts that swap for the remaining measures.

As with most works from this period, each word is given a separate measure, and in this case, each measure is marked with a double bar (except for the organ part at the start and end of the movement).

In the Kyrie, each measure ends with an eighth-note rest.

The form of the piece is not a ninefold Kyrie, as is the norm. Instead Pärt sets a sixfold Kyrie. Each of the six settings consists of a three-measure phrase: one for the word Kyrie (or Christe), one for the word ‘eleison’, and a third in which the organ or strings echo the music of the word ‘eleison’. The 18 measures begin and end with a two-beat pedal note that establishes the modality of the movement.

The entire text is unaccompanied. In other movements Pärt accompanies the voices with the organ (or strings) and alternates this with passages for unaccompanied voices and for instruments alone.

Many of these techniques can be seen in the opening measures of the 2002 version for organ and choir.

Opening of the Berliner Messe Kyrie, version for organ and choir (2002) (© Universal Edition)

After the late 1970s Pärt developed tintinnabuli to include mathematical variations such as inversion and retrograde, and he also became increasingly interested in how a text could be used to generate musical material. These complications to the basic procedure meant that tintinnabulation could be deployed in large-scale works, as epitomized in the first mature work, Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem for soloists, mixed choir, instrumental quartet, and organ (1982). In this piece Pärt articulates the formal structure by assigning key areas to different characters in the narrative and by employing a sophisticated relationship between punctuation and rhythm that precisely determines the composition of each phrase of music.

Pärt has often spoken about the need to get to the nucleus of an idea, from which the work will emerge. He achieves this by a process of reduction, which for him is different from simplification. It is, in his words, an ‘economy of expression’, which also has metaphysical or religious overtones: ‘The M-voice always signifies the subjective world, the daily egoistic life of sin and suffering; the T-voice, meanwhile, is the objective realm of forgiveness. The M-voice may appear to wander, but it is always held firmly by the T-voice’.

Silence is an important compositional device in this style and contributes to the sense of stasis and stillness in much of his music, and this in turn contributes to the numinous quality that is widely admired.

Pärt has frequently transcribed whole works, and in some cases revised instrumentation, because he believes the core of a work resides in the pitches, not in the myriad possibilities of its timbre. For example, one of his most popular works Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the mirror), originally composed for violin and piano in 1978, currently exists in 12 versions for instruments as diverse as alto flute and baritone sax. Another early tintinnabuli work, Fratres (1977), also has many performance options. Originally composed as ‘three-part music without fixed instrumentation’, it also exists as a piece with added variations for a solo instrument and is currently published in 18 versions.

3. Emigration.

In February 1979 Pärt gave an ironic speech at the 11th Congress of the Estonian SSR Composers’ Union wearing a wig. He ironically thanked the Congress for two titles they had given him. As a result, he was excluded from the Composers’ Union in November and advised by the authorities to leave the country. In January 1980 he emigrated to Vienna with his wife Nora and two sons, and in 1981 the Pärt family were granted Austrian citizenship. In 1981 they moved again, this time to West Berlin, because Pärt won an award from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD – the German Academic Exchange Service). They remained in Berlin for almost 30 years, returning to Estonia in 2010, where they have lived ever since. Several important relationships were established during Pärt’s Berlin period. In 1978 he met Alfred Schlee, the manager of Universal Edition. Two years later, UE agreed to publish his music and has been his principal publisher ever since. In 1983 Pärt met the producer Manfred Eicher whose company ECM Records has produced all the first recordings of Pärt’s major works and helped establish his public identity. During the 1980s Pärt composed several larger works, including settings of two major Christian texts, Stabat Mater (1985) and Te Deum (1985). The CD Arbos (ECM New Series, 1987) was the first recording with the Hilliard Ensemble, a group which pioneered Pärt’s work and set an interpretive precedent for Pärt’s works that has been influential on subsequent performances. Pärt also established a fruitful relationship with the Estonian conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, who has recorded and performed numerous works, often in conjunction with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.

4. Later works and collaborations.

Over time, Pärt’s strictly controlled compositional procedures have given way to more freedom as he gained confidence with the tintinnabuli style. Sculpture and architecture have been associated with some of his larger works from this period including Lamentate for piano and orchestra (2002), which is related to the sculpture Marsyas by Anish Kapoor (and which Pärt described as a ‘lament for the living’); and Silhouette for strings and percussion (2009), which is inspired by the structure of the Eiffel Tower.

Pärt has received many high-profile commissions, including Adam’s Lament (for choir and orchestra), which was commissioned by the Cultural Capital cities of Istanbul in 2010 and Tallinn in 2011. Based on a text by one of Pärt’s favourite writers, St Silouan the Athonite, the ECM recording conducted by Kaljuste won a Grammy award in 2014, and the piece was later staged in a collaboration with the director Robert Wilson that premiered in Tallinn in 2015.

Although Pärt prefers to be identified as a musician who does not involve himself in politics, he has continued to strive for ethical treatment of all people. Between 2006 and 2007 he dedicated all performances of his work to Anna Politkovskaya, a human rights activist who was assassinated in 2006. His Symphony no.4 is dedicated to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil oligarch accused of business crimes, and also to ‘all those who are imprisoned without rights in Russia’.

Pärt has not composed music for film since the 1970s; however, his music has been widely adopted in major film and television productions including the Oscar winners Fahrenheit 911 (Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten) and There will be Blood (Fratres), and other notable movies and TV series including Avengers: Age of Ultron and The Young Pope. These and numerous recorded and concert performances of his work have established his international reputation, and his music has been at the centre of many festivals and conferences. Groups such as Aphex Twin, Radiohead, and Sigur Ros all cite Pärt’s music as influential, and the classical event database Bachtrack cited Pärt as the most performed contemporary composer in the world in 2018, for the eighth consecutive year.

5. Honours and archive.

Pärt’s achievements have been internationally recognized and celebrated. He holds 13 honorary doctorates from institutions such as the Estonian Academy of Music (1989), University of Liège, Belgium (2009), and Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Poland (2018). He holds ten memberships in organizations including the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1996) and the Pontifical Council for Culture, Vatican (2011). His music has been nominated for Grammy Awards 11 times and has won twice, first in 2007 for Da Pacem (Harmonia Mundi HMU 097401) and again in 2014 for Adam’s Lament (ECM New Series 2225). Other notable awards and recognitions include Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic (2001), Classic Brit Award for Orient & Occident (2003), Léonie Sonning Music Prize, Denmark (2008), Praemium Imperiale, Japan (2014), and Cross of Recognition 2nd Class (Grand Officer), Latvia (2019).

Photo of the interior of the Pärt Centre © Tonu Tunnel, courtesy of the Pärt Centre

In 2010 Pärt and his family established the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, about 40 kilometres from Tallinn. In 2014 a competition was held to design a new space, which was won by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos. Originally conceived as a repository for his personal archive, the Centre eventually expanded into a more comprehensive cultural and social complex, with a concert hall and Russian Orthodox Chapel. Construction work on the new building began in March 2017, and it was officially opened to the public in October 2018. The digitized archive contains the composer’s original manuscripts and sketch books along with thousands of other documents related to his life, work, and reception, and an official catalogue of his compositions.

Works

The works list is provided in alphabetical order according to the titles of the original versions of each work. Sometimes works are listed by their common title and their original title separated by a slash. Arrangements are listed in chronological order beneath the original piece even when the title of the arrangement is different from the original.

Aatomik [Atom-Boy] (animated film score, dir. E. Tuganov)

1970

Aatomik ja jōmmid [Atom-Boy and Stouts] (animated film score, dir. Tuganov)

1970

Adam’s Lament (Silouan the Athonite, trans. R. Edmonds), ch, str orch

2010

Alleluia-Tropus (Orthodox Prayer Book), ch, 8 vc ad lib.

2008

– Alleluia-Tropus, ch, str orch

2010

And I heard a voice …/Ja ma kuulsin hääle … (Bible: Revelation xiv.13), ch

2017

And One of the Pharisees … (Bible: Luke vii.36–50), 3 vv/ (Ct/A)BT

1992

Annum per annum, org

1980

Anthem of St John the Baptist (Bible: John i.29–34), ch, org

2004

Arbos, early music insts [without fixed instrumentation]

1977

– Arbos, 7/8 rec, 3 triangles ad lib.

1977

– Arbos, 8 brass insts, perc

1986, rev. 2001

The Beatitudes (Bible: Matthew v.3–12), ch, org

1990, rev. 1991

– Beatitudines, ch, org

2001

Beatus Petronius (Antiphon from the liturgy of San Petronio), 2 ch, 2 org

1990

– Beatus Petronius, 2 ch, 8 wind instruments, bells, str orch

2011

Berliner Messe (Ordinary of the Mass, Alleluia verses, Sequence ‘Come, Holy Spirit’, trans. from the Roman Missal, 3rd ed., Catechism of the Catholic Church), ch/soloists, org

1990, rev. 2002

– Berliner Messe, ch, str orch

2002

– Credo from Berliner Messe, Matzelsdorf’s version, ch/soloists, org

2002

– Credo from Berliner Messe, Matzelsdorf’s version, ch, str orch

2005

Bogoróditse Djévo (Prayer to the Mother of God from the Orthodox prayer tradition), ch

1990

Briljandid proletariaadi diktatuurile [Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat] (film score, dir. G. Kromanov)

1975

Cantate Domino canticum novum (Ps xcv), ch/soloists, org

1977, rev. 1996

Cantique des degrés (Ps cxx), ch, orch

1999, rev. 2002

Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten/Cantus Benjamin Britteni mälestuseks, str orch, bell

1977, rev. 1980

Cecilia, vergine romana (Roman Breviary Nov 22, St Cecilia), ch, orch

2000, rev. 2002

Christmas Lullaby/Rozhdestvenskaya kolybel’naya (Luke ii, vii), female v, pf

1998, rev. 2002

– Christmas Lullaby/Rozhdestvenskaya kolybel’naya, female ch/1 female v, str orch

2006

– Christmas Lullaby/Rozhdestvenskaya kolybel’naya, female v, 4 va, 4 vc

2009

Collage über B-A-C-H/Kollaaž teemal B-A-C-H, str orch, ob, hpd, pf

1964

– Concerto piccolo über B-A-C-H, solo tr, str, hpd, pf

1994

Como anhela la cierva (Pss xli–xlii), S, orch, arr. female ch, orch

1999, rev. 2001

Como cierva sedienta (Pss xli–xlii), S/female ch, orch

1998, rev. 2002

Credo (Matthew v.38–9), ch, pf, orch

1968

Da pacem Domine (Gregorian antiphon, trans. from the Book of Common Prayer (1662)) [4-part music, without fixed instrumentation]

2004

– Da pacem Domine, ch/soloists

2006

– Da pacem Domine, ch, str orch

2006

– Da pacem Domine, str qt

2006

– Da pacem Domine, str orch

2006

– Da pacem Domine, rec qt

2007

– Da pacem Domine, ch, orch

2008

– Da pacem Domine, sax qt

2009

– Da pacem Domine, 8/4 vc

2010

Darf ich …, solo vn, bell ad lib., str orch

1995, rev. 1999

The Deer’s Cry (Lorica of St Patrick), ch

2007

De profundis (Ps cxxix), TTBB, perc ad lib., org

1980

– De profundis, TTBB, chbr orch

2008

Diagramme/Diagrammid, pf

1964

Dopo la vittoria: Piccola cantata (Archbishop Philaret, History of Church Singers and Chants (St Petersburg, 1902) [Russian]), ch

1996, rev. 1998

Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima (Ps viii.2), ch

2014

Ein Wallfahrtslied/Pilgrims’ Song (Ps cxx), T/Bar, str qt

1984

– Ein Wallfahrtslied/Pilgrims’ Song, TB, str orch

2001

Enderby—valge maa [The White Land of Enderby] (documentary film score, dir. A. Sööt)

1969

Es sang vor langen Jahren. Motette für de la Motte (C.B. de la Roche), A/Ct, vn, va

1984

Estländler, fl

2006

– Estländler, vn

2009

Estonian Lullaby/Eesti hällilaul. Kuss—kuss, kallike (Estonian folklore), 2 female vv, pf

2002

– Estonian Lullaby/Eesti hällilaul. Kuss—kuss, kallike, female ch/2 female vv, str orch

2006

– Estonian Lullaby/Eesti hällilaul. Kuss—kuss, kallike, female v, 4 va, 4 vc

2009

Evald Okas (documentary film score, dir. V. Aruoja)

1964

Father Frost/Näärivana (A. Rammo, trans. R. Sool), children’s ch (unison), pf

1962

Festina lente, str orch, hp ad lib.

1986, rev. 1990

Five Children’s Songs, children’s ch (unison), pf

1956–60

 

I Am Already Big/Mina olen juba suur (S. Kaputikjan, trans. R. Sool)

Firefly’s Song/Jaaniussi laul (S. Lauren, trans. Sool)

Frogs/Konnad (Lauren, trans. Sool)

Ladybird’s Song/Lepatriinu laul (Lauren, trans. Sool)

The Doll Has No Name/Nukul pole nime (A. Jõger, trans. Sool)

Four Easy Dances, pf

1956–9

 

Puss in Boots/Saabastega kass

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf/Punamütsike ja hunt

Butterflies/Liblikad

Dance of the Ducklings/Pardipoegade tants

Fratres: 3-part music [without fixed instrumentation]

1977

– Fratres: 3-part music, 4/8/12 vc

1982

– Fratres: 3-part music, str orch, perc

1983, rev. 1991

– Fratres: 3-part music, str qt

1985, rev. 1989

– Fratres: 3-part music, wind octet, perc

1990

– Fratres, 3-part music, wind orch

2004

– Fratres, 3-part music, chbr ens

2007

– Fratres, 3-part music, 3 recs, perc, vc/va da gamba

2009

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, vn, pf

1980

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, vc, pf

1989

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, vn, str orch, perc

1992

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, tbn, str orch, perc

1993

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, vc, str orch, perc

1995

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, gui, str orch, perc

2000

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, sax qt

2002

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, va, pf

2003

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, 4 perc players

2006

– Fratres: 3-part music with solo variations, va, str orch, perc

2008

Für Alina/Aliinale, pf

1976

Für Anna Maria, pf

2006

Für Lennart in memoriam, str orch

2006

Habitare fratres in unum (Ps cxxxii), ch/soloists

2012

Üks helin mul helises rinna sees [A sound rang in my breast] (documentary film score, dir. O. Neuland)

1972

Hiirejaht [Mousehunt] (animated film score, dir. E. Tuganov)

1965

Hymn to a Great City, 2 pfs

1984, rev. 2004

I Am the True Vine (St John xv.1–14), ch

1996

Inimeselt inimesele [From Man to Man] (documentary film score, dir. R. Maran)

1972

In principio (St John i.1–14), ch, orch

2003

In spe, ch and any selection of insts

1976

– An den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten (Ps cxxxvi), ch/soloists, org

1984, rev. 1991

– An den Wassern zu Babel …, tbn, chbr orch

1995

– An den Wassern zu Babel …, soloists, SATB, insts

1996

– In spe, wind qnt, str orch

2010

Inspiratsioon [Inspiration] (film score, dir. V. Himbek)

1971

Jääriik [Ice State] (documentary film score, dirs.. M. Kask and A. Sööt)

1970

Jäljed lumel [Tracks on Snow] (documentary film score, dir.  L. Laius)

1978

Just nii [Just Like That] (animated film score, dir. E. Tuganov)

1963

Kanon pokajanen (Orthodox Canon of Repentance), ch

1997

– Ode I from ‘Kanon pokajanen’, ch

1997

– Ode III from ‘Kanon pokajanen’, ch

1997

– Ode IV from ‘Kanon pokajanen’, ch

1997

– Ode V from ‘Kanon pokajanen’, ch

1997

– Ode VI—Kontakion—Ikos from ‘Kanon pokajanen’, ch

1997

– Ode VIII from ‘Kanon pokajanen’, ch

1997

– Prayer after the Canon from ‘Kanon pokajanen’, ch

1997

Kaugsōit [Long Drive], (documentary film score, dir. A. Sööt)

1973

Kleine Litanei (traditional prayers compiled by Pärt), ch

2015

Kolm pōrsakest [The Three Little Pigs] (radio play score, dir. S. Reek)

1960

Kurepoeg [The Baby Stork] (animated film score, dir. E. Tuganov)

1967

Kyrie eleison, bells of Rakvere Church of the Trinity

2010

L’abbé Agathon (From the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, trans. E. Cori), S, 8 vc

2004

– L’abbé Agathon, S, 4 va, 4 vc

2005

– L’abbé Agathon, S, A/T/B, female ch, str orch

2008

Lamentate: Homage to Anish Kapoor and his sculpture ‘Marsyas’, pf, orch

2002

La Sindone, orch

2005, rev. 2015

Laul armastatule (S. Rustaveli), 2 solo vv, ch, orch [withdrawn]

1973

Let the Snow Swish/Las vihistab (P. Haavaoks, trans. Sool), children’s ch (unison), pf [also pubd under Estonian title ‘Näärilaul’]

1962

Litany: Prayers of St John Chrysostom, A/Ct, T, T, B, ch, orch

1994, rev. 1996

Littlemore Tractus (J.H. Newman), ch, org

2000

– Swansong, orch

2013

Looduse hääled [Sounds of Nature] (documentary film score, dir. R. Maran)

1975

Maailma samm (E. Vetemaa), ch, orch [withdrawn]

1960

Mäeküla piimamees [The Milkman of Mäeküla] (film score, dir. L. Laius)

1965

Magnificat (Luke i.46–55), ch

1989

Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäler (E. Jabès, trans. R. Waldrop), org

1989

– Mein Weg, 14 str, perc

1999, rev. 2000

Memento: Ode VII from “Kanon pokajanen’ (Orthodox Canon of Repentance), ch

1994, rev. 1997

Miserere (Ps l(li), ‘Dies irae’, trans. W.J. Irons), soloists, ch, inst ens, org

1989, rev. 1992

Mis? Kes? Kus? [What? Who? Where?] (animated film score, dir. H. Valk)

1970

Missa brevis (Ordinary of the Mass), 12 vc

2009

– Missa brevis, 8 vc

2010

Missa syllabica (Ordinary of the Mass), ch

1977, rev. 1996

– Missa syllabica, (S, A, T, B)/SATB, chbr ens

1977

– Missa syllabica, ch, org

1996

– Missa syllabica, S, A, T, B, str qt]

2009

Morning Star, ch

2007

Most Holy Mother of God, Ct/A, T, T, B

2003

Mozart-Adagio, vn, vc, pf

1992

– Mozart-Adagio, cl, vc, pf

2005

Musica sillabica, op.12, 12 insts [withdrawn]

1964

My Heart’s in the Highlands (R. Burns), Ct/A, org

2000

– My Heart’s in the Highlands, Ct/A, vn, va, vc, pf

2013

Navigaator Pirx (film score, dir. M. Piestrak)

1978

Nekrolog/Nekroloog, orch

1960

Nunc dimittis (Luke ii.29–32), ch

2001

Nyne k vam: Ode IX from ‘Kanon pokajanen’ (Orthodox Canon of Repentance), ch

1989, rev. 1997

Ōed [Sisters] (animated film score, dir. Tuganov)

1974

Ōhtust hommikuni [From Evening until Morning] (film score, dir. Laius)

1962

Operaator Kōps kiviriigis [Cameraman Kōps in Stoneland] (animated film score, dir. H. Pars)

1968

Operaator Kōps marjametsas [Cameraman Kōps in Berryland] (animated film score, dir. Pars)

1965

Operaator Kōps seeneriigis [Cameraman Kōps in Mushroomland] (animated film score, dir. Pars)

1964

Operaator Kōps üksikul saarel [Cameraman Kōps on a Deserted Island] (animated film score, dir. Pars)

1966

Orient & Occident, str orch

2000

Otsin luiteid [Searching the Dunes] (documentary film score, dir. H. Roosipuu)

1972

Our Garden/Meie aed (E. Raud, trans. K. Rikken, M. Kangro, and T. Sikorskaja), children’s ch, orch

1959

Pallid [Balls] (animated film score, dir. H. Pars)

1973

Pari intervallo [4-part music, without fixed instrumentation]

1976

– Pari intervallo, org

1980

– Pari intervallo, 4 recs

1980

– Pari intervallo, cl, tbn, str orch

1995

– Pari intervallo, sax qt

2002

– Pari intervallo, 4-hand pf/2 pf

2008

– Pari intervallo, 8/4 vc

2010

Partita, pf

1958

Passacaglia, vn, pf

2003

– Passacaglia, 1/2 vns, vib ad lib., str orch

2007

Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem (John xviii, xix.1–30), soloists, ch, inst qt, org

1982

Peace upon you, Jerusalem (Ps cxxi)

2002

Perpetuum mobile, orch

1963

Prayer (Orthodox Canon of Repentance), ch, str orch [from ‘Kanon pokajanen’]

2018

Pro et contra, concerto vc, orch

1966

Purustatud Lōualuu saare lōpp [The End of the Broken Jaw Island] (radio play score, dir. S.Reek)

1964

Psalom, str qt

1985, rev. 1991

– Psalom, str orch

1995

– Psalom, 8/4 vc

2010

Putukate suvemängud [Insects’ Summer Games] (animated film score, dir. Pars)

1971

Puzzle, org [withdrawn]

1997

Rachel River (film score, dir. S. Smolan)

1987

Quintettino, fl, ob, cl, bn, hn

1964

Reinu sōit Kuule [Rein’s Trip to the Moon] (radio play score, dir. A. Ruus)

1960

Reportaaž telefoniraamatu järgi [Reporting by a Phone Book] (documentary film score, dir. R. Karemäe)

1966

Salve Regina (Marian antiphon, trans. E. Caswall), ch, org

2001

– Salve Regina, ch, cel, str orch

2011

Sarah Was Ninety Years Old/Saara oli 90—aastane (Genesis xvi.1–2; xvii.1–5, 15–17; xviii.2, 9–15; xxi.1–3, 5–7), S, T, T, perc, org

1976, rev. 1989

Scala cromatica: Trio piccolo, vn, vc, pf

2007

Sei gelobt, du Baum (V. Luik), Bar, vn, quinterne/mandolin/lute, db

2007

Sellised lood [Such Stories] (cartoon film score, dir. A. Kivirähk)

1973

Sequentia, str orch, perc

2014

Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen (Magnificat antiphons from the Advent Liturgy), ch

1988, rev. 1991

– O-Antiphonen, 8 vc

2008

– Greater Antiphons, str orch

2015

Silhouette: Hommage à Gustave Eiffel, str orch, perc

2009

Silouan’s Song: ‘My soul yearns after the Lord …’ (St Silouan the Athonite), str orch

1991

– Silouan’s Song: ‘My soul yearns after the Lord …’, 8 vc

2012

Solfeggio/Solfedžo, ch

1963

– Solfeggio/Solfedžo, sax qt

2002

– Solfeggio/Solfedžo, str qt

2008

– Solfeggio/Solfedžo, 8/4 vc

2010

Songs from Childhood, (children’s ch, pf)/(children’s ch, inst ens)

2015

 

I Am Already Big/Mina olen juba suur (S. Kapitikjan, trans. R. Sool)

1958–9

 

Ladybird’s Song/Lepatriinu laul (S. Lauren, trans. Sool)

1956–9, rev. 2015

Frogs/Konnad (Lauren, trans. Sool)

1956–9

Oh Where Are You Father Christmas?/Kus sa viibid, jõuluvana? (E. Tatsch, trans. P. Hillier)

1956–9, rev. 2015

Santa Claus/Jõuluvana (A. Rammo, trans. Hillier)

1962, rev. 2015

Let the Snow Swish/Las vihistab (P. Haavaoks, trans. Hillier)

1962, rev. 2015

Firefly’s Song/Jaaniussi laul (Lauren, trans. Sool)

1956–9

The Doll Has No Name/Nukul pole nime (A. Jõger, trans. Hillier)

1958–9, rev. 2015

Mommy’s Kiss/Memme musi, pf

1968

The Book/Tere, raamat! (L. Tungal, trans. Hillier)

1956–9, rev. 2015

Road to School/Koolitee (D. Normet, trans. Hillier)

1961

Sleeping Beauty/Okasroosike (E. Tatsch, trans. Hillier)

1956–9, rev. 2015

The Little Motor-Scooter/Väike motoroller (E. Raud, L. Tungal, trans. Hillier)

1962, rev. 2015

The Song of Atom-Boy/Aatomiku laul (V. Beekman, trans. Hillier)

1970, rev. 2015

 

Summer Waltz/Suvine valss (Lauren, trans. Hillier)

1956–9, rev. 2015

Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, vn, pf

1978

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, va, pf

1978

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, vc, pf

1978

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, cl/b cl, pf

2003

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, horn, pf

2003

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, a fl, pf

2005

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, ob, pf

2005

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, db, pf

2006

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, eh, pf

2006

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, bn, pf

2009

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, org

2010

– Spiegel im Spiegel/Peegel peeglis, bar sax, pf

2015

Stabat Mater (Liturgical sequence, trans. E. Caswall), S, Ct/A, T, vn, va, vc

1985

– Stabat Mater, SAT, str orch

2008

Statuit ei Dominus (Gregorian introit, Bible: Ecclesiasticus xlv.30), 2 ch, 2 org

1990

– Statuit ei Dominus, 2 ch, 8 wind insts, str orch

2011

Summa (The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed), ch

1977

– Summa, vn, 2 va, vc

1990

– Summa, str orch

1991

– Summa, str qt

1991

– Summa, sax qt

2002, rev. 2009

– Summa, rec qt

2005

– Summa, tbn qt

2008

– Summa, gui qt

2010

– Summa, 8/4 vc

2010

– Summa, 2 gui

2011

Symphony no.1 ‘Polyphonic’, orch

1963

Symphony no.2, orch

1966

Symphony no.3, orch

1971

Symphony no.4 ‘Los Angeles’, str orch, hp, timp, perc

2008

Tabula rasa, 2 vn, prep pf, str orch

1977

– Tabula rasa, vn, va, prep pf, str orch

1977

Täheke [Little Star] (cartoon film score, dir. A. Paistik)

1974

Te Deum (Ambrosian hymn), 3 chs, prep pf, str orch, phonogram

1985, rev. 1992

‘These Words …’, str orch, perc

2008

Tribute to Caesar (Matthew xxii.15–22), ch

1997

Triodion (Orthodox prayer tradition ), ch

1998

Trisagion, str orch

1992, rev. 1994

Trivium, org

1976

Two Sonatinas, pf

 

 

Sonatina no.1

1958

Sonatina no.2

1959

Ukuaru (film score, dir. Laius)

1973

Ukuaru Waltz/Ukuaru valss, pf

1973, rev. 2010

– Ukuaru Waltz/Ukuaru valss, acc

2016

Vāike motoroller [The Little Moter-Scooter] (animated film score, dir. Pars)

1962

Variations the Healing of Arinushka/Variatsii na vyzdorovlenie Arinushki/Variatsioonid Ariinuška tervekssaamise puhul, pf

1977

Värvilised unenäod [Colourful Dreams] (film score, dirs. V. Aruoja and J. Tooming)

1974

Värvipliiatsid [Coloured Pencils] (cartoon film score, dir. Paistik)

1973

Vater unser (Matthew vi.9–13), (boy S)/Ct(/children’s ch unison), pf

2005, rev. 2011

– Vater unser, (boy S)/Ct, str orch/str quintet

2013

Veealused [Underwater Friends] (animated film score, dir. Pars)

1973

Veni creator (Liturgical hymn), ch, org

2006

– Veni creator, ch, str orch

2010

Viimane korstnapühkija [The Last Chimney-Sweep] (animated film score, dir. Tuganov)

1964

Virgencita (adapted from traditional prayers to the Mother of God), ch

2012, rev. 2013

Von Angesicht zu Angesicht (Bible: I Corinthians xiii.12), S, Bar, cl, va, db

2005

Wenn Bach Bienen gezüchtet hätte …/Kui Bach oleks mesilasi pidanud …, pf, wind qnt, str orch, perc

1984, rev. 2019

Which Was the Son of … (Luke iii.23–38), ch

2000

The Woman with the Alabaster Box (Matthew xxvi.6–13), ch

1997

Zwei Beter (Luke xviii.9–14), female ch

1998

Zwei slawische Psalmen (Pss cxvi, cxxx), (S, A, Ct, T, B)/SACtTB

1984, rev. 1997

Bibliography

  • M. Vaitmaa: ‘Arvo Pärt’, Kuus Eesti Tanase Muusika Loojat [Six Estonian creators of modern music], ed. H. Tauk (Tallinn, 1970), 35–60
  • L. Mattner: ‘Arvo Pärt: Tabula rasa’, Melos, 47/2 (1985), 82–99
  • M. Elste: ‘An Interview with Arvo Pärt’, Fanfare, 11/4 (1987–8), 337–41
  • J. McCarthy: ‘An Interview with Arvo Pärt’, MT, 130 (1989), 130–33
  • M. Vaitmaa: ‘Tintinnabuli: elämänkatsomus, tyyli ja tekniikka, Arvo Pärtin sävellyksista’ [Tintinnabuli – philosophy, style, and technique: the compositions of Arvo Pärt], Musiikkitiede, 2/2 (1990), 61–82
  • D. Clarke: ‘Parting Glances’, MT, 134 (1993), 680–84
  • P. Hillier: Arvo Pärt (Oxford, 1997)
  • O. Kautny: Arvo Pärt zwischen Ost und West: Rezeptionsgeschichte (Stuttgart, 2002)
  • H. Conen (ed.): Arvo Pärt: die Musik des Tintinnabuli-Stils (Cologne, 2006)
  • E. Restagno and others: Arvo Pärt im Gespräch (Vienna, 2010; Eng. trans. R. Crowe as Arvo Pärt in Conversation, 2012)
  • J. Roeder: ‘Transformational Aspects of Arvo Pärt’s Tintinnabuli Music,’ JMT, 55/1 (2011), 1–41
  • T. Robinson: ‘Analyzing Pärt’, The Cambridge Companion to Arvo Pärt (Cambridge, 2012), 76–110
  • A. Shenton, ed.: The Cambridge Companion to Arvo Pärt (Cambridge, 2012)
  • P. Bouteneff: Out of Silence (Yonkers, NY, 2015)
  • H. Rosma and others, eds.: In Principio: the Word in Arvo Pärt’s Music (Estonia, 2015)
  • L. Dolp, ed.: Arvo Pärt’s White Light: Media, Culture, Politics (Cambridge, 2017)
  • A. Shenton: Arvo Pärt’s Resonant Texts: Choral and Organ Music 1956–2015 (Cambridge, 2018)
  • P. Bouteneff, J. Engelhardt, and R. Saler, eds.: Sounding the Sacred: Arvo Pärt and the Art of Embodiment (New York, 2020)
  • Arvo Pärt Centre website: https://www.arvopart.ee/en/arvo-part/
  • Catalogue of works published by Universal Edition: https://www.universaledition.com/arvo-part-534

See also

This article supersedes an older article.

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