Pärt, Arvo
Pärt, Arvo
- 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.
