Arvo Pärt
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| Arvo Pärt | |
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 Arvo Pärt in Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin, 2008
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Arvo Pärt |
| Born | September 11, 1935 |
| Origin |  Paide, Estonia |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
Arvo Pärt (born September 11, 1935 in Paide, Estonia), (IPA: [ˈɑr̺vɔ ˈpær̺t]) is Estonia's most renowned composer, working in a minimalist style that employes tintinnabulation and hypnotic repetitions that is also influenced by the intellectual counterpoint elements of European jazz,[1] but fits a European-American post-modernism rather than an example of "world music".[2]
Continuing struggles with Soviet officials led him to emigrate in 1980 with his wife and their two sons. Pärt lived first in Vienna, where he took Austrian citizenship; and then he re-located to Berlin where he still lives.[3]
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[edit] Musical development
His most familiar works are Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten for string orchestra and bell (1977) and the string quintet "Fratres I" (1977, revised 1983), which he orchestrated for string orchestra and percussion, the solo violin "Fratres II" and the cello ensemble "Fratres III" (both 1980).
Pärt is often identified with the school of minimalism and more specifically, that of "mystic minimalism" or "sacred minimalism".[4] He is considered a pioneer of this style, along with contemporaries Henryk Górecki and John Tavener. Though his fame initially rested on instrumental works such as Tabula Rasa and Spiegel im Spiegel, his choral works have also come to be widely appreciated.
Pärt's musical education began at age seven. He began attending music school in Rakvere, where his family lived. By the time he reached his early teen years, Pärt was writing his own compositions. While studying composition with Heino Eller at the Tallinn Conservatory in 1957,[3] it was said of him that "he just seemed to shake his sleeves and notes would fall out".
In this period of Estonian history, Pärt was unable to encounter many musical influences from outside the Soviet Union except for a few illegal tapes and scores. Although Estonia had been an independent Baltic state at the time of Pärt's birth, the Soviet Union occupied it in 1940 as a result of the Soviet-Nazi Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; and the country would then remain under Soviet domination -- except for the three-year period of German wartime occupation -- for the next 51 years.
[edit] Musical oeuvre
Arvo Pärt's oeuvre is generally divided into two periods.
His early works ranged from rather severe neo-classical styles influenced by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Bartók. He then began to compose using Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique and serialism. This, however, not only earned the ire of the Soviet establishment, but also proved to be a creative dead-end. When early works were banned by Soviet censors, Pärt entered the first of several periods of contemplative silence, during which he studied choral music from the 14th to 16th centuries.[3] In this context, Pärt's biographer, Paul Hillier, observed that "... he had reached a position of complete despair in which the composition of music appeared to be the most futile of gestures, and he lacked the musical faith and will-power to write even a single note."
The spirit of early European polyphony informed the composition of Pärt's transitional Third Symphony (1971); and thereafter, he immersed himself in early music, re-investigating the roots of western music. He studied plainsong, Gregorian chant, and the emergence of polyphony in the Renaissance. The music that began to emerge after this period was radically different. This period of new compositions included Fratres, Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten, and Tabula Rasa.[3]
Pärt describes it as tintinnabuli — like the ringing of bells. The music is characterised by simple harmonies, often single unadorned notes, or triad chords which form the basis of western harmony. These are reminiscent of ringing bells. Tintinnabuli works are rhythmically simple, and do not change tempo. The influence of early music is clear. Another characteristic of Pärt's later works is that they are frequently settings for sacred texts, although he mostly chooses Latin or the Church Slavonic language used in Orthodox liturgy instead of his native Estonian language. Large-scale works inspired by religious texts include St. John Passion, Te Deum, and Litany. Choral works from this period include Magnificat and The Beatitudes.[3]
It is for these latter works that Pärt is best known; and he is perhaps unusual for a modern composer in that he has become very popular in his own lifetime, e.g.,
- "Even in Estonia, Arvo was getting the same feeling that we were all getting. [...] I love his music, and I love the fact that he is such a brave, talented man. [...] He's completely out of step with the zeitgeist and yet he's enormously popular, which is so inspiring. His music fulfills a deep human need that has nothing to do with fashion." —Steve Reich
Arvo Pärt's music came to public attention in the West, largely thanks to Manfred Eicher who recorded several of Pärt's compositions for ECM Records starting in 1984.
Pärt has said that his music is similar to light going through a prism: the music may have a slightly different meaning for each listener, thus creating a spectrum of musical experience, similar to the rainbow of light.
A new composition, Für [for] Lennart, written for the memory of the Estonian President Lennart Meri, was played at his funeral service on April 2, 2006.
In response to the murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow on October 7 2006, Pärt declared that all his works performed in 2006-2007 would be in commemoration of her death:
- "Anna Politkovskaya staked her entire talent, energy and – in the end – even her life on saving people who had become victims of the abuses prevailing in Russia."— Arvo Pärt
Pärt was honoured as the featured composer of the 2008 RTÉ Living Music Festival[5] in Dublin, Ireland. He was also commissioned by Louth Contemporary Music Society[6] to compose a new choral work based on St. Patricks Breastplate, which premiered in 2008 in Louth, Ireland. The new work is called The Deers Cry. This is the composer's first Irish commission. The composition's debut in Drogheda and Dundalk in February 2008 represents Pärt's continuing evolution as an artist.
[edit] Filmography
Pärt's music has been featured in over 50 films, from "Väike motoroller" (1962) to "Promised Land" (2004). Elements from the Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten was used in Léos Carax's film Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991); and a part of the composition was heard in Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 while the audience confronts the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City. Segments from Spiegel im Spiegel were incorporated in Mike Nichols' film version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit (2001), in the mountain climbing documentary Touching the Void (2003), in Tom Tykwer's film, Heaven (2002), and in Gus Van Sant's film Gerry (2003), which also included a small segment from Für Alina. Tabula Rasa was used in the opening scenes of the award-winning 2001 documentary War Photographer, about photojournalist James Nachtwey. His soundtrack for Reha Erdem's Times and Winds (in Turkish Beş Vakit), 2006, underscored Erdem's subject, the endlessly repeating seasonal and human rhythms of Turkish village life. Fratres for Cello and Piano was used in the soundtrack for the 2007 film There Will Be Blood.
[edit] Selected works
[edit] Works for voices and orchestra
- Our Garden, Cantata for children's chorus and orchestra (1959/2003)
- Credo for chorus, orchestra, and piano solo (1968)
- Wallfahrtslied for tenor or baritone and string orchestra (1984/2000)
- Te Deum for chorus, string orchestra and tape (1984-5, rev 1992)
- Berlin Mass for chorus and organ or string orchestra (1992)
- Litany for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1994)
- Como cierva sedienta for soprano, chorus and orchestra (1998)
- Cantiques des degrés for chorus and orchestra (1999/2002)
- Cecilia, vergine romana for chorus and orchestra (1999/2002)
- In Principio for chorus and orchestra (2003)
[edit] Works for voices and ensemble (or piano)
- An den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten for voices or choir and organ or ensemble (1976/1984)
- Sarah Was Ninety Years Old for three voices, percussion and organ (1977/1990)
- De profundis for chorus, percussion and organ (1980)
- Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem for soloists, vocal ensemble, choir and instrumental ensemble (1982)
- Es sang vor langen Jahren for alto, violin and viola (1984)
- Wallfahrtslied for tenor or baritone and string quartet (1984)
- Stabat Mater for 3 voices and string trio (1985)
- Miserere for soli, choir and ensemble (1989)
- My Heart is in the Highlands for countertenor and organ (2000)
- Zwei Wiegenlieder for two women’s voices and piano (2002)
- L'Abbé Agathon for soprano, four violas and four celli (2004/2005)
[edit] Works for chorus (and organ)
- Missa syllabica for chorus and organ (1977)
- Summa for chorus (1977)
- Magnificat for chorus (1989)
- Bogoroditse Djevo for chorus (1990)
- Hildegard Curth gewidmet - The Beatitudes (1990)
- Dopo la Vittoria for chorus (1996)
- I Am the True Vine (1996)
- Kanon Pokajanen for chorus (1997)
- Triodion for chorus (1998)
- Which Was the Son of... (2000)
- Nunc Dimittis for chorus (2001)
- Salve Regina for chorus and organ (2001)
- Peace upon you, Jerusalem for female chorus (2002)
- Anthem written for St John's College, Oxford (2005)
- The Deer's Cry written for chorus for Louth Contemporary Music Society, Ireland (2008)
[edit] Orchestral works
- Nekrolog for orchestra op.5 (1960)
- Symphony No.1 for orchestra op.9 (1963)
- Perpetuum mobile for orchestra op.10 (1963)
- Symphony No.2 for orchestra (1966)
- Symphony No.3 for orchestra (1971)
- Wenn Bach Bienen gezüchtet hätte ... for piano, wind quintet, string orchestra and percussion (1976)
- Fratres for chamber ensemble (1976 and on, many versions)
- Arbos for brass and percussion (1977/1986)
- Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten for string orchestra and bell (1977)
- Psalom for string orchestra (1985/1995/1997)
- Festina Lente for string orchestra and harp (1988)
- Summa for string orchestra (1991)
- Silouans Song for string orchestra (1991)
- Trisagion for string orchestra (1992)
- Mein Weg for 14 string players and percussion (1999)
- Orient & Occident for string orchestra (2000)
- Lennartile / Für Lennart for string orchestra (2006)
- La Sindone for orchestra and percussion (2006)
[edit] Works for solo instruments and orchestra
- Collage sur B-A-C-H, for oboe, string orchestra, harpsichord, and piano (1964)
- Pro et Contra, concerto for cello and orchestra (1966, for Mstislav Rostropovich)
- Credo for chorus, orchestra, and piano solo (1968)
- Tabula Rasa, double concerto for two violins, string orchestra and prepared piano (1977)
- Fratres for violin, string orchestra and percussion (1992)
- Concerto piccolo über B-A-C-H for trumpet, string orchestra, harpsichord and piano (1994)
- Darf ich ... for violin, bells and string orchestra (1995/1999)
- Lamentate for piano and orchestra (2002)
[edit] Instrumental works
- 2 Sonatinen, op.1, for piano (1958/1959)
- Für Alina for piano (1976)
- Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka for piano (1977)
- Spiegel Im Spiegel for violin or cello and piano (1978)
- Fratres for violin and piano (1980)
- Hymn to a Great City for two pianos (1984/2000)
- Summa for string quartet (1990)
- Mozart-Adagio for violin, cello and piano (1992/1997, from Mozart's Piano Sonata in F major (K 280))
- Passacaglia for violin and piano (2003)
- Annum per Annum (organ)
- Pari Intervallo (organ)
[edit] Awards
- 1996 — American Academy of Arts and Letters Department of Music
- 2003 — Honorary Doctor of Music, University of Durham[7]
- 2008 — Léonie Sonning Music Prize
[edit] References
- ^ Irina Novikova, writing on jazz countercultures in the former USSR, in Heike Raphael-Hernandez, Paul Gilroy, Blackening Europe: The African American Presence 2003:82.
- ^ He was listed nevertheless by Richard Nidel's World Music: The Basics 2005.
- ^ a b c d e New York City Ballet program notes in Playbill, January 2008.
- ^ For example by Christopher Norris, "Post-modernism: a guide for the perplexed", in Gary K. Browning, Abigail Halcli, Frank Webster, Understanding Contemporary Society: Theories of the Present 2000.
- ^ RTÉ web site
- ^ Louth web site
- ^ Arvo Pärt: Doctor of Music (2003-10-15). Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- Hillier, Paul. (1997). Arvo Pärt. Oxford : Oxford University Press. 10-ISBN 0-198-16616-8; 13-ISBN 978-0-198-16616-0 (paper)
[edit] External links
- Complete Listing of Arvo Pärt's Works
- Arvo Pärt — extensive site
- arvopart.info — another comprehensive site with current news
- David Pinkerton's Arvo Pärt archive — yet another extensive site, with some good analytical writing.
- Biography in MUSICMATCH Guide - Small biography and list of works.
- Arvo Pärt and the New Simplicity — text of a radio interview from October 11, 1998
- Pärt's page at Universal Editions — purchase scores and find out about performances of Part's music worldwide, plus detailed work list
- Steve Reich about Arvo Pärt, in an interview with Richard Williams, The Guardian, January 2, 2004
- Spike Magazine Interview
- Michael Pärt on WIKI or www.paert.com
- Lancing College Commission 'Original' Recording in the presence of the composer - Review
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
