Arvo Pärt

 

Profile

Estonian-born Arvo Pärt is widely considered to be one of the most unique voices in the world of music. He graduated in 1963 from the Tallinn State Conservatory and until 1968, despite the repressive Soviet regime that encompassed Estonia at the time, managed to study and experiment with what was regarded as Western contemporary avant-garde. He says at this point he felt stuck musically, so he entered a period of self imposed, creative exile where he studied intensively; Gregorian Chants, the Notre Dame School and Renaissance vocal polyphony. He emerged in 1976 with a piano piece, Für Alina, his first composition in his newly created tintinnabuli technique – a technique which blends two musical lines, the melodic voice and the triadic voice, into an organic whole, confirming the establishment of the new musical language. His intense, passionate compositions are admired by musicians from all genres and 2013 he was, for the third year in a row, the most performed contemporary composer in the world. In 2010, Pärt’s 75th birthday was celebrated throughout Estonia and near Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, the Arvo Pärt Centre was established to house his hand-written music scores and other important documents. He is the first Estonian recipient of the Praemium Imperiale.

Read more...

Estonian-born Arvo Pärt is widely considered to be one of the most unique voices in the world of music. His intense, passionate compositions are admired by musicians of all genres and in 2013 he was, for the third year in a row, the most performed contemporary composer in the world.

He started learning the piano from a very early age but he found that he enjoyed composing more than practicing – some of his early compositions can still be found today but they are extremely different from the work he is generally associated with. In 1963, while working as a sound engineer for Estonian Radio, he graduated from the Tallinn State Conservatory (now known as the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) at the age of 27. At that time, Estonia was under the Soviet regime and, as such, western contemporary music and religious music were prohibited. Despite such draconian restrictions, he managed to get hold of some books on dodecaphony and western taped music and studied contemporary music by himself. He says, "Our interest was so big for anything that came through the barbed wire, almost anything ― both heart-balm and poison alike."

His experimental music based on dodecaphonic technique, drew criticism from the Soviet regime and left him too feeling stuck with no apparent way out. He decided, in order to break this deadlock, to "return to the origin of western music." So from the late 1960s, he entered a period of self imposed, creative exile where he studied intensively; Gregorian chants, the Notre Dame School and Renaissance vocal polyphony.

As a devout believer in the Russian Orthodox Church, he searched for "the beginning" of music, keeping away from complex contemporary music. Finally, in 1976 after "8 years' silence", he emerged with a small piano piece, Für Alina, his first composition in his newly created tintinnabuli (tintinnabulum – Latin for 'little bell') technique – a technique which blends two musical lines, the melodic voice and the triadic voice, into an organic whole, confirming the establishment of the new musical language.

Pärt has found great success with both his instrumental pieces, such as Tabula rasa (1977) and Spiegel im Spiegel (1978) and with the choral music that is so often inspired by liturgical texts, such as Passio (1982), Stabat Mater (1985), Miserere (1989), Kanon pokajanen (1997) and many others. His solemn music with almost hypnotic qualities is enjoyed in concert and in recording, in film and documentaries.

In 1980, Pärt and his family left Estonia, first for Vienna and then for Berlin. In 2010 when Pärt's 75th birthday was celebrated throughout Estonia, they returned to their homeland and near Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, the Arvo Pärt Centre was founded. The aim of the centre is to create opportunities for preserving and researching the creative heritage of the composer in his native land. The composer's personal archive houses many important documents connected to his life and work, including his hand-written music scores. Arvo Pärt is the first Estonian recipient of the Praemium Imperiale Award.

Biography

  1935 Born in Paide, Estonia
  1963 Graduated from Tallinn Conservatory
  1958-67 Worked as a sound engineer at Estonian Radio
  1968 After Credo, suspended music composition for eight years
  1976 Established the tintinnabuli style with piano piece Für Alina
  1977 Tabula rasa, Fratres, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, Spiegel im Spiegel
  1980 Emigrated to Vienna (1981 moved to Berlin)
  1982 Passio
  1984 Release of the CD Tabula rasa and beginning of the collaboration with Manfred Eicher, producer of the ECM label. Since then 13 portrait-CDs with ECM.
  1984 Te Deum
  1989 Miserere
  1989–2013 Eleven Grammy nominations mostly for the best contemporary composition
  1990 First visit to Japan
  1994 Litany
  1996 Honorary membership of American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York
  1997 Kanon pokajanen
  2003 Lamentate
  2007 Grammy Award in the Best Choral Performance category for CD Da Pacem (Harmonia Mundi)
  2008 Received the Léonie Sonning Music Prize, Denmark
Symphony No. 4 “Los Angeles”
  2010 Adam’s Lament
Returned to Estonia
Founded Arvo Pärt Centre near Tallinn
  2011 L'ordre national de la légion d'honneur
  2014 Grammy Award in the Best Choral Performance category for CD Adam’s Lament (ECM)