Arvo Pärt
Summa
Instrumentation details:
1st violin
2nd violin
viola
violoncello
Pärt - Summa for string quartet
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Arvo Pärt
Pärt: Summa for string quartet
Available digitally
Orchestration: for string quartet
Type: Partitur und Stimmen
Audio preview
Work introduction
“I have developed a highly formalised compositional system, which I have been using to write my music for twenty years. Summa is the most strict and enigmatic work in this series”, said Arvo Pärt in 1994. The neutral title itself embodies the essence of the content as the work is based on the text of the Latin Credo. The great simplicity of the piece masks its complexity. The underlying rules ensure that on the surface a cycle of continuous change is created while the deep structure possesses an order of stillness. Originally Pärt composed Summa for choir, yet he later created various arrangements.