(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2BEZIjSVWSw/S7zrg7mk6rI/AAAAAAAACXc/9j659-B8RVo/s1600/Part.jpg)
Arvo Pärt has demonstrated a voracious musical curiosity and daring experimental spirit throughout his career that has allowed him to move beyond his secured place as Estonia's premiere composer to become perhaps the best-known choral and sacred music scorist of his time. Thirty years of musical experimentation with influences as wide-ranging as Russian neo-classicism, Western modernism, Schoenbergian dedecaphony, minimalism, polytonality, Gregorian chant, and collage have led him to the creation of a distinctively sparse technique he calls "tintinnabulation." This method, which takes its name from the Latin word for bells, places unusual emphasis on individual notes and makes extensive use of silence. "I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played, " says Pärt. "This one note ... or a moment of silence, comforts me.... I build with the most primitive materials -- with the triad, with one specific tonality. The three notes of a triad are like bells. And that is why I call it tintinnabulation." Pärt, a 1963 graduate of the Tallin Conservatory, began his career writing music for Estonian radio, television, film, and theater. His early work drew heavily from the music of the Soviet Union, where he took up residence in the early '60s. With 1960's Necrology, Pärt began to explore Schoenberg's 12-tone serial method. He continued with serialism throughout most of the '60s, but eventually grew weary of its rigidity and began to experiment with collage technique, incorporating elements of Bach and Tchaikovsky into his original compositions. This approach alienated purists, and his Credo of 1968 was banned in Estonia. Pärt then abandoned pastiche and entered a period of studious hibernation during which he examined medieval and Renaissance choral music. In 1976, he re-emerged from his self-imposed silence with a small piano composition, Fur Alina. The piece constituted a remarkable departure from his previous work, and introduced the "tintinnabulation" method that was to be the hallmark of subsequent compositions. The piece also marked the beginning of a very prolific period. 1977 saw the release of three of Pärt's most famous works: Fratres, Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, and Tabula Rasa, for which he won the Estonian Music Prize. The western success of these pieces created friction between Pärt and the Soviet government, however, and in 1980, he moved to Vienna and became an Austrian citizen. A year later he moved to West Berlin, where he began to focus on choral settings of religious texts including St. John Passion (1982), Te Deum (1984-1986), Litany (1994), and Kanon Pokajanen (1998). These works reflected his growing interest in the metaphysical, as well as his appreciation of Gregorian chant and composers like Obrecht, Ockeghem, and Josquin. His western following continued to expand in the '90s, when his music attracted the attention of numerous American film producers, popular recording artists like Michael Stipe, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, to which he was elected in 1996.
[Article taken from All Music Guide]
In my opinion, one of the most remarkable post-WWII composers. He obviously started off in a very avant-garde style of composition, but morphed into one of the most recognizable composers in recent history with a trademark style of compostion that has been emulated, but never duplicated.
What do you guys think of this composer? What are some of your favorites works? Any comments are welcomed.
I am a big fan of Part. While I was first introduced to him via more recent works, and generally prefer this style of his, I actually enjoy his earlier avant-garde pieces as well.
I like most of what I have heard (I think Spiegel Im Spiegel was the first pieces I heard).
While I don't necessarily see similarities in their style, Part's development reminds be a lot of Penderecki or Gorecki (whom I also enjoy).
Quote from: monafam on June 30, 2010, 08:31:51 PM
I am a big fan of Part. While I was first introduced to him via more recent works, and generally prefer this style of his, I actually enjoy his earlier avant-garde pieces as well.
I like most of what I have heard (I think Spiegel Im Spiegel was the first pieces I heard).
While I don't necessarily see similarities in their style, Part's development reminds be a lot of Penderecki or Gorecki (whom I also enjoy).
One of the most remarkable works I've heard recently by Part was "Miserere," which is a hauntingly beautiful work for chorus and instrumental ensemble. My favorite Part composition above all of them is "Te Deum" written for chorus, string orchestra, and prepared piano. "Tabula Rasa," "Symphony No. 3," "Litany," "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten," and "Silouans Song." These works send my mind into a completely different orbit altogether.
I have to sometimes remember that Part is a very different kind of composer. Very different going from say Mahler to Bartok to Part. I think the most important thing is that people keep an open-mind about his music. I, at one time, hated his music, but as time went on and my mind became more open, I finally heard what so many people have been hearing for years.
If one has only listened to the later Part (the choral works), one does not know Part. You'd have to listen to his earlier works before he began to look backward for inspiration, and took that forward.
This disc would be a good place to start, courtesy of our own Just Jeff:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002HMJRI?ie=UTF8&seller=A1WSTA0CCWCRFC&sn=20th%20Century%20Music
Part is one of my favorite composers, and probably my favorite living composer. My first CD that I got of his music was lamentante for piano and orchestra and I absolutely loved it. From there, I went on to get more of his stuff, and discovered how much I loved his music, even the ones that sound extremely simple to my ears (Spiegel im Spiegel ((Which just makes me very calm))
Perhaps my favorite piece by him though, is his Litany. I love how he uses the chorus and the orchestra.
Of his older stuff, I really like the Pro et contra for cello and orchestra.
Quote from: springrite on June 30, 2010, 08:43:57 PMIf one has only listened to the later Part (the choral works), one does not know Part.
Actually, I'm quite familiar with his early works and have many recordings that feature these earlier works (pre-tintinnabulation). One doesn't have to be aware of a composer's beginnings to enjoy the music. With this logic, one doesn't know Bruckner either if they've never heard his 0 and 00 symphonies or any of his choral works. No, I believe an understanding of a composer begins with what the listener hears and is intellectually/emotionally moved by.
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 30, 2010, 08:46:38 PM
Part is one of my favorite composers, and probably my favorite living composer. My first CD that I got of his music was lamentante for piano and orchestra and I absolutely loved it. From there, I went on to get more of his stuff, and discovered how much I loved his music, even the ones that sound extremely simple to my ears (Spiegel im Spiegel ((Which just makes me very calm))
Perhaps my favorite piece by him though, is his Litany. I love how he uses the chorus and the orchestra.
Of his older stuff, I really like the Pro et contra for cello and orchestra.
Not to disagree with your wonderful commentary, I really disliked "Lamentante." I also really disliked this newer recording "In Principio." I enjoy his earlier tintinnabulation works much better. "Litany," by the way, is a splendid work. Very moving and really just sends me into a totally different headspace. You mentioned you love the way he uses chorus and orchestra and that's what I love about "Te Deum." The accompaniment from the string orchestra in this work is just so emotionally invigorating.
Quote from: Mirror Image on June 30, 2010, 08:56:56 PM
Actually, I'm quite familiar with his early works and have many recordings that feature these earlier works (pre-tintinnabulation). One doesn't have to be aware of a composer's beginnings to enjoy the music. With this logic, one doesn't know Bruckner either if they've never heard his 0 and 00 symphonies or any of his choral works. No, I believe an understanding of a composer begins with what the listener hears and is intellectually/emotionally moved by.
No, I am not suggesting that you don't know these works, nor that one can not enjoy the later works without knowing the earlier ones. I am merely suggesting those who enjoy the later works (and rightfully so) that there is an earlier Part worth exploring. Please, do not read more into my post that I actually wrote.
Quote from: springrite on June 30, 2010, 09:01:23 PM
No, I am not suggesting that you don't know these works, nor that one can not enjoy the later works without knowing the earlier ones. I am merely suggesting those who enjoy the later works (and rightfully so) that there is an earlier Part worth exploring. Please, do not read more into my post that I actually wrote.
Oh okay sorry about that. I wasn't sure what you were implying. Anyway, I hate early Part.
Quote from: Mirror Image on June 30, 2010, 09:07:02 PM
Oh okay sorry about that. I wasn't sure what you were implying. Anyway, I hate early Part.
I hate those works, too! ;D
FWIW there is already a Part thread here - here (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,1265.0.html), in fact! It has some good stuff on it. Thread merge time, perhaps?
Don't want to disrespect the thread merge but did want to add that Tabula rasa is one of my favorite works. All the composers in my grad program (of course, all writers of atonal music) detested Part - this was more than 15 years ago. I thought his work was beautiful. The Cantus canon was the first work of his that I encountered and I found it striking from the outset.
Earlier in the year, I saw Part's Berliner Messe done live. It was amazing to hear the large choir and the bell-like colours of the organ echo throughout the church. I'm gearing up to see Tabula Rasa done live later on in the year. His music is full of such amazing sounds, that you only get 10% of the experience when listening to a recording, you really have to see it live to fully appreciate it. It is so delicate and subtle. I missed the local premiere of his latest (4th) symphony earlier in the year, but we do get many of his works performed regularly here in Sydney, so I'll catch up, no doubt.
From today's (May 14th)
Wall Street Journal:
QuoteIn the next few weeks, "The Arvo Pärt Project"—the inspiration of Peter Bouteneff and Nicholas Reeves, faculty members at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers—will bring the composer to Washington and New York. Tõnu Kaljuste, whose recording of Mr. Pärt's "Adam's Lament" won this year's Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance, will conduct the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in works by Mr. Pärt, offering separate programs at the Kennedy Center on May 27 and at the Phillips Collection on May 29. The ensembles will then appear at Carnegie Hall on May 31. And on June 2, the choir will perform the composer's intricate "Kanon Pokajanen" (1997), based on the Orthodox canon of repentance, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Temple of Dendur.
All of these works reflect the blossoming of a style Mr. Pärt developed after a long compositional pause in the 1970s, during which he rejected his earlier use of contemporary approaches, including 12-tone techniques, and instead embarked on the study of early music, especially Gregorian chant. At the time, he had been criticized by the Soviet authorities for his modernism. But Mr. Pärt, age 78, told me by phone from Estonia that it would be a misinterpretation to attribute the decision to reassess his craft to these political pressures. "The change in my compositional style," he said, "grew out of a seed I felt within."
See:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304536104579558173580370330?mg=reno64-wsj (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304536104579558173580370330?mg=reno64-wsj)
BIS CEO Robert von Bahr on the difficulties of recording "Cantus":
"Do I remember the recording of Pärt's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, whose music forms the bulk of this CD. I told the orchestra time and again that they had to sit ABSOLUTELY still for at least a minute after the last chord, for the bell sound to slowly fade out and disappear, and then we had an excellent take, They sat without moving for 30 seconds, and then a chair cracked, before the bell had died. Big discussion, but in those days one simply couldn't edit inaudibly in the sound of a tubular bell, so they had to take it again, and again. Finally the orchestra really did sit still (as a small revenge I kept them for an extra 15 seconds) and the result is superb. As is the music by Britten, with Truls Mørk playing the Cello Symphony, again in Bergen under Neeme Järvi."
I feel his pain. Every two or three weeks, I have to teach the choir again to be careful about turning their pages when the music is quiet.
https://www.youtube.com/v/af1dmI02bE8
The dramatic 25-minute "In principio" for mixed choir and large orchestra sets the famous opening of the gospel of St. John, "In principio erat Verbum". In its five movements, "tintinnabuli"-diatonicism is contrasted with sophisticated harmonic procedures, massive brass chords are juxtaposed with almost stoic calm in the choir.
With most of Pärt's more recent works, the score (2003) was written in response to a major commission.
Bought this book recently....
(https://johnsonsrambler.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/part_in_conv.gif)
....but have not read it yet.
I am an admirer. I like the Cantus in Memory of Britten and much else besides.
I was introduced to the music of Part when I heard the piece Fratres in the movie There Will Be Blood. I waited with baited breath while the end credits rolled to see the name of the piece and the composer. I immediately purchased a disc with Fratres, Cantus In Memory of Benjamin Britten, and Tabula Rasa, which I enjoy a lot. To date it's the only disc I own, but I'm definitely interested in further exploration.
Quote from: Mirror Image on June 30, 2010, 08:40:21 PMMy favorite Part composition above all of them is "Te Deum" written for chorus, string orchestra, and prepared piano.
Mine too. |Enjoyed a similar experience: it took time before I was won over, but now Pärt is an all-time 'great composer' for me.
I first began listening to Arvo Part from the Naxos releases in the '90s, but then have not listened again until very recently. I've been playing this recording this week. Paul Hillier's vocal style is a good match for Part.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ZRCJ9QXKL.jpg)
I don't suppose anyone was in Tallinn on Tuesday for the premiere of Adam's Passion
http://www.adamspassion.com/press-releases-1
I was not, although I was thinking of Tallinn this week . . . .
Check your messages, Karlo! :)
Quote from: karlhenning on May 14, 2015, 05:46:51 AM
I was not, although I was thinking of Tallinn this week . . . .
Check your messages, Karlo! :)
Tallinn is a grand place.
(did).
Happy Birthday, Arvo Pärt (https://musicakaleidoscope.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/happy-birthday-arvo-part/)
(http://www.paulsquire.com/wp-content/uploads/xoh6aa.jpg)
For several years (from 1968) he concentrated on exploring tonal monody and simple two-part counterpoint in exercises inspired by his studies of early music and Gregorian chant. During this period he produced two works (Laul armastatule – subsequently withdrawn – and the Third Symphony) which reveal the strength of these preoccupations. It was only in 1976, however, that he began to compose fluidly again, this time using a tonal technique of his own creation which he calls 'tintinnabuli' (after the bell-like resemblance of notes in a triad).
RTRH (https://musicakaleidoscope.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/happy-birthday-arvo-part/)
This is a very short thread. Isn't Part the most successful composer, in terms of concert performances and use in films, of the last 50 years? I find the music very accessible. Sometimes that fact makes me suspicious but other times I'm just overwhelmed by the beauty of the music. I'm listening to Te Deum at the moment. It's live by Dijkstra. It's very affecting. Is Part respected or written off because he's so outside the avant garde? How is he perceived amongst the cutting-edge critics? Is he a dinosaur or an inventor? I'm guessing it depends on whom you ask.
I think those who complain classical music has become ugly and unlistenable can turn to Part as a purveyor of highly listenable music.
I don't know what I'm trying to say here. The fact that his music is so outwardly beautiful makes me a little suspicious yet I can't help but really get pulled into it. Will Part be remembered as a high point? A conservative who innovates, like Bach? A lesser composer (compared to whom)? I know: it doesn't matter. But what do people think of him anyway?
Quote from: milk on May 31, 2021, 04:53:13 AM
Will Part be remembered as a high point? A conservative who innovates, like Bach? A lesser composer (compared to whom)? I know: it doesn't matter. But what do people think of him anyway?
I was introduced to Arvo Pärt in the 80's with his Tabula Rasa and a series of recordings from the Hilliard Ensemble. I am not obsessed with his music, it is too much of the same mellifluous style for my tastes, but I respect his music.
Coming from a choral perspective only, I think Pärt has broken out beyond a niche Estonian composer. His music is almost always included on choral programs still today, even if it is just one song to fit a Christmas album or a themed program. But I think enough of his works have been recorded outside of Estonia and away from Estonian devotees like the Järvi's, that his music is pretty standard fare in the choral world.
That said, I am largely ignorant of his instrumental music, although I would love to hear from someone who is familiar with his four symphonies to see if they are worth exploring.
Quote from: milk on May 31, 2021, 04:53:13 AM
This is a very short thread. Isn't Part the most successful composer, in terms of concert performances and use in films, of the last 50 years? I find the music very accessible. Sometimes that fact makes me suspicious but other times I'm just overwhelmed by the beauty of the music. I'm listening to Te Deum at the moment. It's live by Dijkstra. It's very affecting. Is Part respected or written off because he's so outside the avant garde? How is he perceived amongst the cutting-edge critics? Is he a dinosaur or an inventor? I'm guessing it depends on whom you ask.
I think those who complain classical music has become ugly and unlistenable can turn to Part as a purveyor of highly listenable music.
I don't know what I'm trying to say here. The fact that his music is so outwardly beautiful makes me a little suspicious yet I can't help but really get pulled into it. Will Part be remembered as a high point? A conservative who innovates, like Bach? A lesser composer (compared to whom)? I know: it doesn't matter. But what do people think of him anyway?
I like Pärt, but I still feel his best pieces are from the late 70s/early 80s when he was still relishing in his newfound style that he called Tintinnabuli. For me, works like
Stabat Mater,
Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten and
Tabla Rasa are amongst the masterpieces of post-war music.
Quote from: VonStupp on May 31, 2021, 06:12:05 AM
I was introduced to Arvo Pärt in the 80's with his Tabula Rasa and a series of recordings from the Hilliard Ensemble. I am not obsessed with his music, it is too much of the same mellifluous style for my tastes, but I respect his music.
Coming from a choral perspective only, I think Pärt has broken out beyond a niche Estonian composer. His music is almost always included on choral programs still today, even if it is just one song to fit a Christmas album or a themed program. But I think enough of his works have been recorded outside of Estonia and away from Estonian devotees like the Järvi's, that his music is pretty standard fare in the choral world.
That said, I am largely ignorant of his instrumental music, although I would love to hear from someone who is familiar with his four symphonies to see if they are worth exploring.
For me, the third symphony is the best of the four. The first two symphonies are avant-garde, but not in a way that I personally enjoy. There's a reason
why he broke away from this early style and I'm glad he did, because his earlier works aren't amongst his most interesting works. I don't listen to his music very often, but I will agree there's a certain 'sameness' in his style from the mid-70s until today, but there are some gems that were written along the way that I think demonstrate his compositional brilliance, which I mentioned in my previous post.
Quote from: Mirror Image on May 31, 2021, 06:18:22 AM
I like Pärt, but I still feel his best pieces are from the late 70s/early 80s when he was still relishing in his newfound style that he called Tintinnabuli. For me, works like Stabat Mater, Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten and Tabla Rasa are amongst the masterpieces of post-war music.
These are beautiful pieces of music. They produce a real experience. Maybe they're very accessible. Each piece sounds familiar to me even though I'd never heard them.
Quote from: milk on June 01, 2021, 06:37:44 AM
These are beautiful pieces of music. They produce a real experience. Maybe they're very accessible. Each piece sounds familiar to me even though I'd never heard them.
I'm puzzled by this post: you first say they're beautiful pieces, but then you conclude with saying they sound familiar to you even though you never heard them. How do you know they're beautiful pieces of music if you never heard them? Are you going purely by titles alone? ??? I'm confused. :-\
Quote from: Mirror Image on June 01, 2021, 06:53:01 AM
I'm puzzled by this post: you first say they're beautiful pieces, but then you conclude with saying they sound familiar to you even though you never heard them. How do you know they're beautiful pieces of music if you never heard them? Are you going purely by titles alone? ??? I'm confused. :-\
He said he
had never heard them, not that he
has never heard them.
Quote from: vers la flamme on June 01, 2021, 11:44:37 AM
He said he had never heard them, not that he has never heard them.
Still confused.
Quote from: Mirror Image on June 01, 2021, 11:46:18 AM
Still confused.
I meant they sound familiar even though I'd never heard them before. Is that clearer? Day by day I find I'm less able to make sense of myself so if this doesn't make sense, or if there's a better way to say it, I might not even know it.
I think great music is sometimes like that. Part is a unique test for me because he's one of the really big names I'd never delved into. So, when I put on his famous pieces, it's interesting that they did seem familiar.
Quote from: milk on June 06, 2021, 08:25:22 AM
I meant they sound familiar even though I'd never heard them before. Is that clearer? Day by day I find I'm less able to make sense of myself so if this doesn't make sense, or if there's a better way to say it, I might not even know it.
I think great music is sometimes like that. Part is a unique test for me because he's one of the really big names I'd never delved into. So, when I put on his famous pieces, it's interesting that they did seem familiar.
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.
By the way, you were once interested in minimalism of the non-holy kind. Have you heard Peter Michael Hamel and Hans Otte?
Quote from: Mandryka on June 06, 2021, 08:41:46 AM
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.
By the way, you were once interested in minimalism of the non-holy kind. Have you heard Peter Michael Hamel and Hans Otte?
I'll check those names. Thanks!
Quote from: milk on June 08, 2021, 01:45:23 AM
I'll check those names. Thanks!
Possibly for me more interesting, because more austere, than any of those composers is Ernstalbrecht Stiebler. I suppose it's not totally unexpected that there are German minimalists.
Quote from: Mandryka on June 06, 2021, 08:41:46 AM
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.
By the way, you were once interested in minimalism of the non-holy kind. Have you heard Peter Michael Hamel and Hans Otte?
Otte is something: Book of Sounds, Aquarian music...
Thanks! I didn't know this music.
Quote from: milk on June 09, 2021, 03:45:24 AM
Otte is something: Book of Sounds, Aquarian music...
Thanks! I didn't know this music.
I didn't get on with Roger Woodward's recording of the piano music, but liked Ralph van Raat and the composer's CD. I haven't really broached Aquarian Music, but just random sampling makes me think of Julius Eastman's Femenine (which I can't listen to for more than 10 minutes . . . )
Quote from: Mandryka on June 09, 2021, 05:17:25 AM
I didn't get on with Roger Woodward's recording of the piano music, but liked Ralph van Raat and the composer's CD. I haven't really broached Aquarian Music, but just random sampling makes me think of Julius Eastman's Femenine (which I can't listen to for more than 10 minutes . . . )
Eastman sounds much more like jazz. Some of Otte can seem innocuous on first listen. That might be a problem.
Been listening to Neeme Järvi's disc with the first three symphonies, plus the Cello Concerto "Pro et contra", plus Perpetuum Mobile, op.10, quite a bit lately...:
(https://i.postimg.cc/DyXHrppw/image.jpg)
I find these works absolutely fascinating. He seems to take somewhat of a collage style which juxtaposes 12-tone serialism and extended instrumental techniques with moments of traditional tonality inspired by baroque music. It's quite compelling. I would love to hear more of the early Pärt. I also have this Naxos disc which contains the early Collage über BACH...:
(https://i.postimg.cc/2yhpS0Py/image.jpg)
... which is also quite enjoyable.
Does anyone know of any other good recordings of early Pärt works?
Quote from: vers la flamme on July 11, 2021, 04:02:12 PM
I find these works absolutely fascinating. He seems to take somewhat of a collage style which juxtaposes 12-tone serialism and extended instrumental techniques with moments of traditional tonality inspired by baroque music. It's quite compelling. I would love to hear more of the early Pärt. I also have this Naxos disc which contains the early Collage über BACH...:
... which is also quite enjoyable.
Does anyone know of any other good recordings of early Pärt works?
Aarvo Part is one of those rare composers who switched styles completely yet BOTH are excellent in their own way. I also like Nekrolog from the 1960.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqeOyvJP_ZY