Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: September 11
Brief biography of Estonian minimalist and avant-gard composer Arvo Pärt, famous for Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, Spiegel im Spiegel and Tabula Rasa.
Arvo Pärt is considered one of the most inventive and instinctive mystical minimalist composers in the late 20th-century. His musical scores have been pervaded by bell-like sounds since the musical breakthrough to poetic expression which he calls "tintinnabular" style.
The work that brought him international attention was the six-minute poignant Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten for strings and bell. Pärt's music has been featured in numerous films, for example, "Fratres for Cello and Piano" was used in the soundtrack of a 2007 film "There Will Be Blood."
Life of Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt was born on September 11, 1935, in Paide, Estonia. He is the most renowned composer in his homeland. He studied at the Tallinn Conservatory graduating in 1963 while working as a sound producer for an Estonian radio. In 1962 he won a prize for a children’s cantata Our Garden and an oratorio Stride of the World.
The continuing upheavals with soviet officials led him to emigrate with his family. Pärt lived in Vienna first, became an Austrian citizen, then later, relocated to West Berlin in 1982.
His early works followed standard Soviet models and influenced by Dmitri Shostakovitch, but later he turned to strict serialism, and eventually to minimalism as revealed through his sacred music works.
Serialist Works
Among his known serialist works are Perpetuum mobile, Symphony no.2, and Pro et contra for cello and orchestra.
Orthodox Church Music Influence
In the 1970s he came into contact with the music of the Orthodox Church which affected his music technically and spiritually, for example in Symphony no.3 and the cantata Song for the Beloved, as well as the concerto grosso Tabula rasa for three violins, strings and prepared piano.
Minimalist Works
In drawing on minimalist techniques of repetition, he has also evoked the music of other composers such as Leo Janacek, Igor Stravinsky and Benjamin Britten.
Some of these minimalist works are Arbos for seven instruments, If Bach had been a Bee-Keeper, two versions for harpsichord and ensemble, and 80-minute St John Passion. Pärt also wrote Te Deum for chorus and strings, Stabat Mater and Miserere.
Later Works
Pari intervalli echoes J.S. Bach chorale preludes, calls on 13th-century music, and uses choral and intrumental sounds recalling ancient incantation which is ritualistic in effect. Of recent works, His music has been featured in numerous films including his famous Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten and Spiegel im Spiegel, Tabula Rasa, and many more.
Pärt's Works
Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten for strings and bell, 1977, 6-minute
Perpetuum mobile, 1963
Symphony no.2, 1966
Pro et contra for cello and orchestra, 1966
Symphony no.3, 1971
Song for the Beloved, 1971, Cantata
Concerto grosso Tabula rasa for three violins, strings and prepared piano, 1977
Arbos for seven instruments, 1977
"If Bach had been a Bee-Keeper", two versions for harpsichord and ensemble, 1978, 1980
St John Passion, 1982, 80-minute
Te Deum for chorus and strings, 1984-1985
Stabat Mater, 1985
Miserere, 1989
Image:
Arvo Pärt. Wikipedia Commons
Resources:
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan Press, 1994
The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Revised Edition, edited by Michael Kennedy, OUP, 1994
(c) September 2010. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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