Arvo Pärt – The Master of Pure Sound

“I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener.” – Arvo Pärt

It was a glorious winter’s day in February 1976. Arvo Pärt’s wife and soulmate Nora had tried to nudge Arvo into taking a walk with her all morning, but eventually gave up and left him hunched over his piano. Pärt had not composed anything for several years. Behind them lay an extended period of struggle, on the prowl for interesting literature in the closed Estonian society and anxiety in the search for his own voice, which would correspond to his inner life.

When Nora returned, Für Alina had been created, the little piano piece that in its simplicity bore the seed to all music thenceforth composed by Pärt.

Tõnu Kaljuste, founder of The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and former chief conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir has spent more time than most in the universe created by Arvo Pärt. It is a world where one single note is sufficient, as long as it is played beautifully enough. A mathematical structure, an ascetic aesthetic – a wholly unique voice, which has become such an integral part of our culture that Pärt in 2018 will be the world’s most performed living composer for the seventh year running. Many describe his music as mythical and meditative. Beautiful sounds, others claim. ”You should never talk too much about music”, says Tõnu Kaljuste, “it will just be blah, blah, blah”.

For twenty years, the Radio Choir has both premièred and recorded Pärt’s music together with Kaljuste, and they know that, as a singer, you must have the courage to take the lead of the composer, as well as the conductor, when entering this world. It requires great vocal concentration and artistic dedication to give voice to Pärt’s long lines, pure triads and precise developments. ”Each piece is its own world, which opens up to us through the lyrics”, Kaljuste says about his collaboration with Pärt. ”He is very sensitive and demanding and frequently comment on the efforts of the musicians through his imagery. ’Lean into the silence’ Pärt is often heard to say to those who work with his music.”

Around Pärt’s gentle, bearded presence, there are other voices making a racket. Another compatriot, with whom Tõnu Kaljuste has long collaborated closely, is Veljo Tormis who taught Arvo Pärt composition during his years at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn. Tormi’s music has been called magical minimalism, but its folksy, sometimes rowdy and theatrical elements place it at some distance from Pärt’s austere version of minimalism. From the street corners, the dirty, impatient and rowdy vendors shout out their spiel in Luciano Berio’s crazy Cries of London, a cross between theatre and music. And from remote Italian beaches, we hear Petrarca sighing over his lost love, in Lars Johan Werle’s voice, in Canzone 126.

Text: Janna Vettergren