Arvo Pärt Spiegel im Spiegel

Classical Music / Minimal Music

Spiegel im Spiegel ('Mirror in the Mirror') is a piece of music written by Arvo Pärt in 1978, just before his departure from Estonia. Simply, the piece is in the tintinnabular style of composition, wherein a melodic voice, operating over diatonac scales, and tintinnabular voice, operating within a triad on the tonic, accompany each other. It is about ten minutes long.

Arvo Pärt (pronounced: 'Arvo Pært') is born on September 11, 1935. He is an Estonian composer of  classical and sacred music. Since the late 1970s,  Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-invented compositional technique, 'tintinnabuli.'  His music is in part inspired by Gregorian chant. One of his most famous works include Spiegel im Spiegel (1978).

Suggested Listening:

Spiegel im Spiegel, performed by Sally Maer (Cellist) and Sally Whitwell (Pianist). Accessed September 11, 2011 



Here's another interpretation.  Spiegel im Spiegel for Cello and Piano (Arvo Pärt) Youtube, uploaded by Leonhard Roczek. Accessed September 11, 2011.



Spiegel im Spiegel was originally written for a single piano and violin – though the violin has often been replaced with either a cello or a viola. The piece is an example of minimal music. It's in F major in 6/4 time, with the piano playing rising crochet triads and the second instrument playing slow F major scales, alternately rising and falling, of increasing length, which all end on the note A (the mediant of F). The piano's left hand also plays notes, synchronized with the violin (or other instrument).

In German, "Spiegel im Spiegel" can literally mean both "mirror in the mirror" as well as "mirrors in the mirror", referring to an infinity mirror, which produces an infinity of images reflected by parallel plane mirrors: the tonic triads are endlessly repeated with small variations as if reflected back and forth. The structure of melody is made by couple of phrases characterized by the alternation between ascending and descending movement with the fulcrum on the note A. This, with also the overturning of the final intervals between adjacent phrases, contribute to give the impression of a figure reflecting on a mirror and walking back and towards it.



Resources:

Arvo Pärt. en. wikipedia.org. Accessed September 11, 2015.

Spiegel im Spiegel. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed September 11, 2015.



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