Arvo Pärt Photo: Estonian Foreign Ministry
Arvo Pärt is a musical time traveller and unlikely hero with a quiet but rebellious spirit. Pärt was born in Estonia in 1935. At that time the country, which had a long history of colonisation, was an independent republic. But after just 20 years of independence, when Pärt was just five years old, Estonia was occupied once again.
Despite his obvious gift for composition - his teacher at Tallinn Conservatory said: "he just seemed to shake his sleeves and notes would fall out" - Soviet Union control made it hard for Pärt to access music from the wider world. Artistic restrictions also meant Pärt's early attempts to embrace Schoenberg's serialism were met with derision from the establishment. But as it turned out, for Pärt, serialism was not creatively stimulating.
Instead, he turned to early music; to plainsong; and to the beginnings of polyphony. This music has its roots in religion and Pärt was also drawn to join the Russian Orthodox Church. Minimalist and meditative are two words used by others to describe his music, but Pärt preferred to say it is like light going through a prism - each listener having the opportunity to interpret the sound, together creating a rainbow-like spectrum of musical experience.
Music Details:
PÄRT Fratres for violin and piano - ECM 817 764
Dorian Supin (dir) 24 Preludes for a Fugue [DVD] – Idéale Audience International, 2005 – EDV 1333
PÄRT Fratres for 12 cellos - ECM 817 764
PÄRT Tabula rasa - ECM 817 764
PÄRT In Principio - ECM 2050
PÄRT La Sindone - ECM 2050
PÄRT Passio - ECM 1370
PÄRT Spiegel im Spiegel - Brilliant Classics 8847
PÄRT Nekrolog - Virgin 5 45212
PÄRT Credo - DG 471 769
PÄRT Aleluya In Exitu Israel - Glossa 922005
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No 5 – Symposium 1295
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto in D – Testament SBT 1224
TCHAIKOVSKY Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy – CALA CACD 0521
MOZART Adagio from Piano Sonata in F – DG 449 722
BACH Prelude 1 in C from The Well-Tempered Clavier – RCA GD 86217
PÄRT Sarah was Ninety years old - ECM 1430
PÄRT Fur Alina - BIS CD 1434
PÄRT Tabula rasa - ECM 817 764
PÄRT My Heart's in the Highlands - Hyperion CDA 67675
PÄRT Orient Occident - ECM 472 080
PÄRT Cantus in Memorium Benjamin Britten - ECM 817 764
PÄRT Pilgrim's Song - ECM 472 080
PÄRT Fragile e conciliante from Lamentate - ECM 1930
