Arvo Pärt
*11.09.1935

Future Performances

Trisagion
01.08.2010, Rapla (EST)
Fratres
05.08.2010, Schwäbisch Gmünd (D)
Passio
06.08.2010, Barcelona (E)
Fratres
11.08.2010, Rovaniemi (FIN)
Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
12.08.2010, Sao Paulo (BR)

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Arvo Pärt

The Composer

Arvo Pärt was born in 1935 in Paide, Estonia. After studies with Heino Eller’s composition class in Tallinn, he worked from 1958 to 1967 as a sound engineer for Estonian Radio. In 1980 he emigrated with his family to Vienna and then, one year later, travelled on a DAAD scholarship to Berlin, where he has lived ever since.

As one of the most radical representatives of the so-called ‘Soviet Avant-garde’, Pärt’s work passed through a profound evolutionary process. His first creative period began with neo-classical piano music. Then followed ten years in which he made his own individual use of the most important compositional techniques of the avant-garde: dodecaphony, [...]

About the Music

For the Performer

The confrontation with Pärt’s music can be compared to making an oath of disclosure. Pärt himself says of his compositional point of departure, “It’s enough to play just one note beautifully,” and this applies doubly to interpretation. Here “playing beautifully” means nothing less than 'perfectly'. Thus those whose first encounter with Pärt’s music is based on its disarmingly simple notation will find themselves confronted with much they have not yet mastered. Suddenly, the regularity of up and down strokes, control of vibrato, changes in bowing or strings, and other aspects become fundamental problems.
Pärt’s music does not call for virtuosity [...]

10 of 161 Works

L'abbé Agathon | for soprano and 8 violoncellos 2004
L'abbé Agathon | for soprano, 4 violas and 4 violoncellos 2005
L’abbé Agathon | for 2 soloists (SA), female choir (SA) and string orchestra 2008
Adam's Lament | for mixed choir and string orchestra 2009
Alleluia-Tropus | for vocal ensemble (or chamber choir SATB) and 8 violoncellos [...] 2008
Alleluia-Tropus | for mixed choir and string orchestra 2010
An den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten | for voices or mixed choir (SAT [...] 1984
An den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten | for trombone and chamber orche [...] 1984
An den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten | for voices (SATB) and instrume [...] 1996
And One of the Pharisees ... | for 3 voices or 3-part choir a cappella 1992

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