Shared from the Arvo Pärt Fan Page. This is an English translation of an Estonian language appreciation by writer Rein Veidemann on the occasion of Arvo Pärts 79th birthday last week. In the case of the Arvo Pärt quotes, I have simply used the existing English-language versions from the ECM Records album booklets rather than retranslate them. I have added a few explanatory footnotes for items marked with asterisks. Rein Veidemann: Arvo Pärts Text Published: September 11, 2014 Today is the birthday of Arvo Pärt. The frequency of the performances of the Estonian composer’s works is comparable to that of the canonical works of the classical repertoire. He has been nominated for eleven Grammy Awards and is a two-time winner. The most recent, “Adam’s Lament” in 2013, achieved a so-called full sweep of being nominated for best contemporary composition and best choral performance. He is a creative person in whom is united the humility of a holy man, the expression of a mathematically pure beauty, a simplicity and clarity of message, a thinker and a practitioner. He is a man who doesn’t just warrant attention on major ‘round-number’ anniversaries - such as is the usual habit of stingy-minded Estonians -, but one whose creative works should draw notice on every God-given day. The Nargen Festival Pärt Days, which end today, should become a major musical event in Estonia each year in early September. In the coming year, when Arvo Pärt will reach the 80th milestone of his lifes journey, it will likely take on an even larger scale. The source of Arvo Pärt’s inspiration is the text (whether a narrative, a prayer, a lament, a legend, a confession). But I would say that it is also text in a cultural-semiotic sense, a living being, which can take different forms and expressions, but nevertheless binds us with some important messages in the same way as any parable does. I myself, in the spirit of Yuri Lotman*, have seen in the text a spiritual lifeblood, that circulates and amplifies its meanings. But let us quote Arvo Pärt himself from the accompanying notes to Adams Lament: “The text is independent of us; it awaits us. Everyone needs his own time to come to it. The encounter occurs when the text is no longer treated as literature or artwork, but as reference point or model.” Pärts sacred music is in fact the ornamental transference of text into the language of sound, but it is not a decoration of the text, instead it is a guide to the essence of the soul. About «Kanon Pokajanen”, the composer writes: I wanted the word to be able to find its own sound, to draw its own melodic line. Somewhat to my surprise, the resulting music is entirely immersed in the particular character of Church Slavonic, a language used exclusively in ecclesiastical texts.” And for a comparison, now listen to the Estonian language “Estonian Lullaby” to perceive how it pulsates with its unique Estonian character. Ukuaru valss” (Ukuaru Waltz)** does not have a sung text, but we still perceive something in it for ourselves that is our own. As it is also in Heino Ellers “Kodumaine viis” (Homeland Tune)***. Arvo Pärts compositions and his artistic personality are even becoming a text themselves, even a root text on which/whom you can rely for support just like you would on a tree trunk that is deeply-rooted in the earth’s surface with a high, branching tree-top. When we listen to Pärts work “Für Alina, with which he founded his tintinnabuli style and is also the name of the Pärt Centre House in Lohusalu, and from there on to all of the other sacred works of the maestro, then we feel as if we have entered into a temple, where we can live in the middle of Pärts text, in the midst of a heart of humility and a flicker of solace. * Yuri Lotman aka Jüri Lotman (February 28, 1922 – October 28, 1993) was a prominent literary scholar, semiotician, and cultural historian, who worked at the University of Tartu in Estonia. ** “Ukuaru valss” (Ukuaru Waltz) is a folk-song like tune that was part of the soundtrack score that Arvo Pärt composed for the Estonian film “Ukuaru” (1973) by director Leida Laius. A 2010 piano arrangement has been published by Universal Edition [universaledition/.../composer/534/work/13518] *** ”Kodumaine viis” (Homeland Tune) is a much beloved work for string orchestra by Arvo Pärt’s composition teacher composer Heino Eller [https://youtube/watch?v=Iu_JIEGfNmE]
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 17:57:43 +0000
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