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Listening
to composer Arvo Pärt's mélange of modernism and mysticism is a
sublime aesthetic experience. Pärt's pared down,
enchantingly minimalist compositions rely on counterpoint as well
as subtle Renaissance harmonies and medieval melodic techniques
and chants. His work moves from the dark and haunting to
delightfully light and shimmering.
Born
in Estonia in 1935, Pärt spent his early years as a composer in
the USSR, where he periodically fought Soviet censors who objected
to the religious content of some of his work. He immigrated
to Austria in 1980. His music has acquired a devoted
following among Western choruses and contemporary
choreographers.
Pärt
created a distinctive compositional style called tintinnabulation
that was influenced by chant music and recalls the pealing of
bells. Pärt says of his technique: "Tintinnabulation
is an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers
- in my life, my music, my work. In my dark hours, I have
the certain feeling that everything outside this one thing has no
meaning. The complex and many-faceted only confuses me, and
I must search for unity. What is it, this one thing, and how do I
find my way to it? Traces of this perfect thing appear in
many guises - and everything that is unimportant falls away.
Tintinnabulation is like this . . . The three notes of a triad are
like bells. And that is why I call it
tintinnabulation." The technique is used to
particularly beautiful effect, for example, in the composer's The
Beatitudes.
Festina
Lente, a chamber music piece for string orchestra and harp is
all about, as the title says, making haste slowly! As the
tempo alternates between fast and slow, the work as a whole
accelerates in a wonderfully contained and restrained
manner. Pärt's delicate compositions and conflation of
ancient chants and modern minimalist techniques create a strangely
beautiful and meditative mood.
Listen:
Arvo
Pärt, Arbos.
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