Arvo Part

Minimalist. Spiritual. Angelic. Haunting. These words are often used to describe the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. It has the simplicity and dignity of chant, but there is also something very modern astir in it.
Pärt began his career as a “mainstream” avant-garde composer, and he also worked in film and TV. He took a six-year hiatus during the early 1970s to study medieval forms, and during that time he developed a much simpler style, drawing depths of expression from the most basic triadic harmonies through the deft combination of repetitive melodic fragments and periods of silence. This new style has been referred to as “holy minimalism” though Pärt calls it tintinnabulation, in reference to the sound a bell makes. His aspoused goal is to evoke the simplicity and silence that “rings out” with overtones after a bell is struck. He once observed, “In my music, there is no difference concerning the importanceof the musical parts and the parts with the silences. I would even go as far as to say that the silences become a very special life and a very special importance of their own.”

A number of Pärt’s compositions have been recorded in the ECM label—well-known for its crystaline studio sound—and the artists involved, ranging from Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices to Keith Jarrett and Gidon Kremer, have the patience and sensitivity required to summons every iota of feeling from the very spare musical materials involved.
The best of these recordings may be Tabula Rasa, which contains four instrumental compositions, and De Profundis, which showcases seven of Pärt’s choral works ranging in date of composition from 1964 to 1996. For a truly austere and meditative listening experience, Alina contains music written for solo violin and piano.