Arvo Pärt at 90
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
Pärt leans towards a form of minimalism, which not everyone likes. Some of the works I personally lean towards are:
* "Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvfvO3dJqFY
* "De Profundis": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vOSKaKJ1QY
* "Te Deum"† (~30m): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNxbT0MESTY
* "Fratres" (for cello and piano): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4XMjsYeMig
* "Fratres" (for violin and piano): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PS5QMsGaRw
* "Fratres" (for violin, chambre orchestra, percussion): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9I-6QPT8Is
* the Tabula rasa album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YqF69HLkj8
If you're going to listen to a choral work, it's worth looking first for recordings by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, as Pärt often collaborates with them (sits in on performances, recordings; he's Estonian himself so there's a 'cultural collection').
† On a historical note, the "Te Deum" is one of the earliest Christians hymns we know about (and that is still used), apparently dating back to before 500 AD: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Deum
I have a CD of Hillier's album (one of the first ways I was exposed to Pärt):
* https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lmpgHbTQHjWV6o...
See Summa (Credo) and perhaps Seven Magnificat Antiphons in it.
Excerpts of it were later featured in a French movie called L'Apparition whose soundtrack features a lot of Pärt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apparition_(2018_film)
I was lucky enough to see a performance by the Estonian Festival Orchestra in the Berlin Philharmonics a few years back. The whole full big room was dead quiet and listening, it was so good.
I have a few of Hillier's Pärt CDs:
"Für Alina", same style, written for piano, here with score: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvXy69eF__Y, so you can see how simple it really is. Don't believe that simplicity is all there is to it, though. There are many composers of "simple" music nowadays, and most, like Einaudi, produce nothing but trite musical wall paper.
It wasn't mentioned in the article, but I think it's fair to say that Pärt has brought a small revolution to (classical) music.
I personally find some of his compositions quite moving, and have seen him live before (and will see him again at the Royal Albert Hall next Spring), and I'll also be at the late night prom in celebration of Pärt this week, also at the Royal Albert Hall.
But then, I can listen to Tallis and Metallica, I've got a wide taste. Perhaps I just have a broader palate than most, but I don't see any reason to be a snob about one genre, musician or composer over another...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvXy69eF__Y
Prior to this he had composed in the dissonant, serialist style that was expected of "serious" art music in the middle of the 20th century. This was the first piece where he broke with the contemporary style and introduced his unique "tintinnabuli" style.
If you have even a basic familiarity with music theory it's worth taking a look at the structure of the piece because it's surprisingly simple for the effect. As the right hand plays the melody, the left hand simply plays notes from a b minor chord, with the particular note being whatever is just beyond one octave below the note that the right hand is playing. However there is one exception towards the end where the left hand plays a C# instead of a D as it would be expected to, and this marks the climax of the piece.
There is no way I can start listening to Fratres without tears appearing in my eyes. It's a work of an impossible master mind, a piece that converts the performer's precision into the listener's frisson. A cathartic experience, every single time.