Photo Credit: Arvo Pärt Centre/Eric Marinitsch
Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt, is best known for his minimalist style of contemporary classical music and his use of tintinnabuli. A compositional technique he himself invented, tintinnabuli utilises bell-like sounds by pairing a melodic voice moving diatonically with a voice outlining a tonic triad. His music is in part inspired by Gregorian chant, and he is considered a pioneer of 'holy minimalism' alongside composers John Tavener and Henryk Górecki. Some of his most important works include Spiegel im Spiegel, Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, Miserere, Fratres, and Tabula Rasa.
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Arvo Pärt Sheet Music
Piano miniature, Für Alina. The first work to explore his compositional technique, tintinnabuli, a style achieved not through a progressive increase in complexity, but rather an extreme reduction of the sonic material and the discipline of limiting oneself solely to that which is essential.
Sheet Music
Pärt: Für Anna Maria
Piano
For Anna Maria is a composition Arvo Pärt wrote for one of his youngest admirers. It was commissioned by Anna Maria, then seven years old, from Estonia, and the composer dedicated this piano piece to her on her tenth birthday in 2006. The work's style and scope undoubtedly recall Pärt's Für Alina, which in 1976 first manifested his embrace of the famous tintinnabuli style. Both works are highly recommended, especially for young pianists, as an introduction to the Estonian composer's musical output!
Sheet Music
Arvo Pärt: Ukuaru valss
Piano
This concertina piece was written for the 1973 Leida Laius film Ukuaru, in which Aksel (Lembit Ulfsak) enchants Minna (Elle Kull) by playing the waltz, which then becomes a powerful and lasting artistic theme by the end of the film. In the film, the piece is played on a concertina. There were some changes in the rearrangement of the waltz for the piano, but it retains its playful form.
Sheet Music
Pärt: Fratres
Violin & Piano
Fratres (original setting for violin and piano) was commissioned by the Salzburg Festival and premiered on August 17th, 1980. Composed in Pärt's 'Tintinnabuli'-style, this piece allows many different settings because it is not bound to a specific tone colour.
Sheet Music
Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel
Violin & Piano
A well-known example of Arvo Pärts tintinnabuli style. Written for violin and piano in 1978, the piece illustrates his creative principles: above a permanent flow of chords on the piano, the cello unfolds a cantilena in long note values, which grows out of succinct steps. This cantilena spins out sweeping, chorale-like arches and spreads itself out more and more. It thus gives rise to a new architectonic configuration which, like a mediation chapel, stimulates reflection, prayer or the desire for redemption.
Sheet Music
Pärt: Summa
SATB
The neutral title itself embodies the essence of the content, as the work is based on the text of the Latin Credo. The great simplicity of the piece masks its complexity. The underlying rules ensure that on the surface, a cycle of continuous change is created while the deep structure possesses an order of stillness. Written for four a cappella voices.
Sheet Music
Pärt: Berliner Messe
SATB & Organ
Intended to be sung liturgically during Pentecost, the Berline Messe includes the Veni Sancte Spiritus specific to that service. The gently unfolding repetition deliberately avoids dramatic and pictorial elements, exuding quiet dignity and a profound sense of joy.
Sheet Music
Pärt: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
Study Score
Pärt's tribute to Benjamin Britten, who died in 1976.
Sheet Music
Pärt: Tabula rasa
Study Score
Tabula rasa is Pärt's most extensive instrumental work. Inspired by the concerto grosso from the Baroque period - a small group of instruments, in this case two violins, against the rest of the orchestra.
Sheet Music
