Arvo Part | Artist

Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music born 1935 in Paide, Estonia. Pärt is often identified with the school of minimalism and, more specifically, that of mystic minimalism or 'holy minimalism'. He is considered a pioneer of the latter style, along with contemporaries Henryk Górecki and John Tavener. Although his fame initially rested on instrumental works such as Tabula Rasa and Spiegel im Spiegel, his choral works have also come to be widely appreciated. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented, in part inspired by Gregorian chant. Pärt's works are generally divided into two periods. He composed his early works using a range of neo-classical styles influenced by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Bartok. He then began to compose using Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique and serialism. This earned the ire of the Soviet establishment (Russia controlled Estonia) but also proved to be a creative dead-end. When early works were banned by Soviet censors, Pärt entered a period of contemplative silence, during which he studied choral music from the 14th to 16th centuries. The artist's most performed works include Fratres (1977), Spiegel in Spiegel (1978), and Für Alina (1976). From 2011 to 2018, Pärt was the most performed living composer in the world, and the second most performed in 2019—after John Williams. The Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa was opened to the public in 2018. Standout recordings of Pärt's works include Tabula Rasa [ECM] (1984), Arbos (1987) Passio [ECM] (1988), Miserere (1991) Tabula Rasa [EMI] (1994), Litany (1996), Alina [ECM] (1999), Summa [Virgin] (2002), Arvo Pärt: Portrait [Analakta] (2010), Creator Spiritus [HM] (2012), and The Sound of Arvo Pärt [Erato] (2015). Pärt's music came to public attention in the West largely thanks to Manfred Eicher who recorded several of Pärt's compositions for ECM Records starting in 1984. The Hilliard Ensemble has been responsible for many of the finest recordings of Pärt's choral works. Describing Pärt's music as "glocal" in approach, Estonian musicologist Kerri Kotta noted that the composer "has been able to translate something very human into sound that crosses the borders normally separating people."

Artist Website: wikipedia/Arvo_Pärt

Featured Albums: Arvo Part

Related Artists: Kronos Quartet, Hilliard Ensemble