A concert dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the outstanding Estonian composer Arvo Pärt was held at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. His works are often performed in European concert halls by European musicians, but this evening was memorable for its authenticity, as it was performed by the Estonian Festival Orchestra (EFO) under the baton of Estonian Paavo Järvi and with the participation of Estonian violinist Hans Christian Aavik.
Conductor Paavo Järvi is well known in Hamburg, where he performs several times a year with various ensembles. He comes from a musical dynasty (his father Neeme Järvi and brother Kristjan are conductors, his sister Maarika is a flutist). Paavo Järvi, being in demand by the world's best orchestras, is the principal conductor of the renowned Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, artistic director of the German Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Bremen, and founder and artistic director of the EFO.
Each season ends for Paavo Järvi with two weeks of concerts and master classes at the Pärnu Music Festival, which was founded by him in 2011.
Among the musician's numerous international awards is the Order of the White Star, presented to him by the President of the Republic of Estonia for outstanding achievements in promoting Estonian culture.
This time, the occasion was special – a celebration and recognition of the musical achievements of composer Arvo Pärt. On 11th September this year, at the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, 30 km west of Tallinn, where the composer lives, the music community widely celebrated the composer's 90th birthday, with the birthday boy himself in high spirits and even dancing. A video of the event can be found online.
‘It all started with a piano that looked very worn out: only half of the keys remained, and even they were in poor condition. When things got really bad, I just played them in silence and imagined the beautiful sound. Perhaps that was my first exercise as a composer.’
This is Arvo Pärt talking about his childhood memories and his first steps as a composer in the Estonian town of Rakvere, located halfway between Tallinn and St. Petersburg. Pärt moved there with his mother in 1935 after she separated from his father, and it was where he discovered the aforementioned piano and, thanks to it, found his way at an early age to the musical style that became his trademark: music in which more remains uncomposed than composed, music in which silence is one of the most important elements.
However, Pärt had to make several detours before becoming one of the most successful composers of our time. Looking back on Arvo Pärt's career, it is more the story of a seeker who found his path only in adulthood, but then followed it with even greater perseverance. When he was studying composition in Tallinn, his teacher Heino Eller gave him some advice that he apparently took to heart: ‘It is much harder to find one right note than to fill a page.’
So the young composer set out on an ‘agonising search for one right note.’
The concert in Hamburg featured works written in different years, from Perpetuum mobile (1963) to La Sindone (2022).
In 1976, Pärt wrote the piano piece Für Alina, in which he developed his own style, to which he remains faithful to this day. Working with a small amount of material, he uses a special sound quality, the triad. The three notes in the triad have an effect similar to the ringing of bells, and Pärt called it Tintinnabuli.
The name, derived from the Latin word tintinnabulum, meaning a set of small bells, refers to the ‘ringing’ of the triad. Pärt himself called it a search for the unique and unrepeatable.
But, as with a real diet, his music also follows strict rules; however, here the composer redefines them for each new piece, for example, in how the parts interact. It's just that the result is very different from what we are used to in contemporary music, where we often have to search for regularity, tranquillity and, of course, beauty.
In 1977, Pärt further consolidated his tintinnabuli style with Tabula rasa, a concerto for two violins, and reached audiences outside the Soviet territory for the first time. The string ensemble and piano's rendition of bell chimes is stunning.
Pärt joined the Russian Orthodox Church (he was baptised under the name Aref) in the early 1970s, but his music mainly refers to Catholic traditions; the increasingly religious orientation of his music was diametrically opposed to the principles of the atheistic state in which he lived, and this was one of the reasons (the other one being is that his wife is Jewish) that forced the composer and his family to emigrate: first to Vienna in 1980, and then to (West) Berlin. Until recently, Berlin was his home, and it was here that he earned his reputation as one of the world's most famous contemporary composers.
One of the soloists in the concert, as mentioned above, was the 27-year-old Estonian violinist H.-K. Aavik, who performed the Double Concerto Tabula rasa together with the renowned Japanese violinist Midori.
The concert also featured works written for the composer's friends and colleagues, in particular Passacaglia (Spanish Folk Dance) from 2007, dedicated to and premiered by Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and his ensemble Kremerata Baltica. Due to his busy tour schedule, Gidon was unable to attend in person, but sent his congratulations to the composer via video link.
Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten was written in 1980 in memory of the British composer and conductor who had passed away four years earlier.
The concert in Hamburg was held to a full house of 2,100 listeners, among whom Estonian speech could be heard, to thunderous applause, and the musicians took several bows.
It was the first time I had heard such a representative concert of Estonian music in Hamburg, and I was deeply impressed for a long time afterwards.
In conclusion, I would like to mention musicians who did not participate in the anniversary concert in Hamburg, but who have been associated with Arvo Pärt professionally and as friends for more than half a century.
Andres Mustonen and Arvo Pärt are not just friends; they are united by their confidence in the rightness of their cause. ‘If people truly understood Pärt's music, the world would be a different place,’ says conductor Mustonen.
Andres Mustonen is the permanent director and conductor of the early music ensemble Hortus Musicus, which he founded in 1972.
The ensemble owes its existence to Arvo Pärt, who instilled in Mustonen a love of early music when he was just 19 years old and dedicated several of his compositions to him, including Arbos, An den Wassern zu Babel and others.
Hortus Musicus is known far beyond Estonia; until 2022 the musicians came to St. Petersburg every year with programmes of early music. Their extensive repertoire and discography include Gregorian chants (monophonic liturgical chants of the Catholic Church), secular European music of the 10th-17th centuries, Estonian folk songs, and contemporary Estonian music.
They used to play at the Small Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, tickets were sold like hotcakes, and I was fortunate to hear them perform for almost 30 years.
After the main programme, they usually play a few encores, and their concerts are a real treat for music lovers.
I would recommend starting your acquaintance with Estonian music by listening to Hortus Musicus; their Carmina Burana seems to captivate everyone. And residents of Tallinn can enjoy their concerts in situ.
Conductor Paavo Järvi is well known in Hamburg, where he performs several times a year with various ensembles. He comes from a musical dynasty (his father Neeme Järvi and brother Kristjan are conductors, his sister Maarika is a flutist). Paavo Järvi, being in demand by the world's best orchestras, is the principal conductor of the renowned Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, artistic director of the German Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Bremen, and founder and artistic director of the EFO.
Each season ends for Paavo Järvi with two weeks of concerts and master classes at the Pärnu Music Festival, which was founded by him in 2011.
Among the musician's numerous international awards is the Order of the White Star, presented to him by the President of the Republic of Estonia for outstanding achievements in promoting Estonian culture.
This time, the occasion was special – a celebration and recognition of the musical achievements of composer Arvo Pärt. On 11th September this year, at the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, 30 km west of Tallinn, where the composer lives, the music community widely celebrated the composer's 90th birthday, with the birthday boy himself in high spirits and even dancing. A video of the event can be found online.
‘It all started with a piano that looked very worn out: only half of the keys remained, and even they were in poor condition. When things got really bad, I just played them in silence and imagined the beautiful sound. Perhaps that was my first exercise as a composer.’
This is Arvo Pärt talking about his childhood memories and his first steps as a composer in the Estonian town of Rakvere, located halfway between Tallinn and St. Petersburg. Pärt moved there with his mother in 1935 after she separated from his father, and it was where he discovered the aforementioned piano and, thanks to it, found his way at an early age to the musical style that became his trademark: music in which more remains uncomposed than composed, music in which silence is one of the most important elements.
However, Pärt had to make several detours before becoming one of the most successful composers of our time. Looking back on Arvo Pärt's career, it is more the story of a seeker who found his path only in adulthood, but then followed it with even greater perseverance. When he was studying composition in Tallinn, his teacher Heino Eller gave him some advice that he apparently took to heart: ‘It is much harder to find one right note than to fill a page.’
So the young composer set out on an ‘agonising search for one right note.’
The concert in Hamburg featured works written in different years, from Perpetuum mobile (1963) to La Sindone (2022).
In 1976, Pärt wrote the piano piece Für Alina, in which he developed his own style, to which he remains faithful to this day. Working with a small amount of material, he uses a special sound quality, the triad. The three notes in the triad have an effect similar to the ringing of bells, and Pärt called it Tintinnabuli.
The name, derived from the Latin word tintinnabulum, meaning a set of small bells, refers to the ‘ringing’ of the triad. Pärt himself called it a search for the unique and unrepeatable.
But, as with a real diet, his music also follows strict rules; however, here the composer redefines them for each new piece, for example, in how the parts interact. It's just that the result is very different from what we are used to in contemporary music, where we often have to search for regularity, tranquillity and, of course, beauty.
In 1977, Pärt further consolidated his tintinnabuli style with Tabula rasa, a concerto for two violins, and reached audiences outside the Soviet territory for the first time. The string ensemble and piano's rendition of bell chimes is stunning.
Pärt joined the Russian Orthodox Church (he was baptised under the name Aref) in the early 1970s, but his music mainly refers to Catholic traditions; the increasingly religious orientation of his music was diametrically opposed to the principles of the atheistic state in which he lived, and this was one of the reasons (the other one being is that his wife is Jewish) that forced the composer and his family to emigrate: first to Vienna in 1980, and then to (West) Berlin. Until recently, Berlin was his home, and it was here that he earned his reputation as one of the world's most famous contemporary composers.
One of the soloists in the concert, as mentioned above, was the 27-year-old Estonian violinist H.-K. Aavik, who performed the Double Concerto Tabula rasa together with the renowned Japanese violinist Midori.
The concert also featured works written for the composer's friends and colleagues, in particular Passacaglia (Spanish Folk Dance) from 2007, dedicated to and premiered by Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and his ensemble Kremerata Baltica. Due to his busy tour schedule, Gidon was unable to attend in person, but sent his congratulations to the composer via video link.
Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten was written in 1980 in memory of the British composer and conductor who had passed away four years earlier.
The concert in Hamburg was held to a full house of 2,100 listeners, among whom Estonian speech could be heard, to thunderous applause, and the musicians took several bows.
It was the first time I had heard such a representative concert of Estonian music in Hamburg, and I was deeply impressed for a long time afterwards.
In conclusion, I would like to mention musicians who did not participate in the anniversary concert in Hamburg, but who have been associated with Arvo Pärt professionally and as friends for more than half a century.
Andres Mustonen and Arvo Pärt are not just friends; they are united by their confidence in the rightness of their cause. ‘If people truly understood Pärt's music, the world would be a different place,’ says conductor Mustonen.
Andres Mustonen is the permanent director and conductor of the early music ensemble Hortus Musicus, which he founded in 1972.
The ensemble owes its existence to Arvo Pärt, who instilled in Mustonen a love of early music when he was just 19 years old and dedicated several of his compositions to him, including Arbos, An den Wassern zu Babel and others.
Hortus Musicus is known far beyond Estonia; until 2022 the musicians came to St. Petersburg every year with programmes of early music. Their extensive repertoire and discography include Gregorian chants (monophonic liturgical chants of the Catholic Church), secular European music of the 10th-17th centuries, Estonian folk songs, and contemporary Estonian music.
They used to play at the Small Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, tickets were sold like hotcakes, and I was fortunate to hear them perform for almost 30 years.
After the main programme, they usually play a few encores, and their concerts are a real treat for music lovers.
I would recommend starting your acquaintance with Estonian music by listening to Hortus Musicus; their Carmina Burana seems to captivate everyone. And residents of Tallinn can enjoy their concerts in situ.