This autumn, the living legend of music, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, turns 90. On this occasion, an exclusive concert of this famous composer's music will be held in Vilnius on November 5. concert, which will feature the GRAMMY-winning Latvian Radio Choir, one of the best choirs in the world. The concert will take place in the new LVSO concert hall, where the Lithuanian audience will be able to hear Arvo Pärt's monumental masterpiece "Kanon pokajanen".
One of the most famous composers of our time, Arvo Pärt, is among the most recognized and hugely popular contemporary composers, alongside Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Krzysztof Penderecki, John Adams, Max Richter, etc. The Estonian composer, who celebrates his 100th birthday this year, has earned recognition for his unique musical style of "tintinnabuli" (Latin for "bells"), which has made his work famous around the world for almost half a century.
In his youth, after graduating from the Tallinn State Conservatory, A. Pärt wrote a series of works in which he was one of the first in Estonia to use the then modern compositional styles: neoclassicism, dodecaphony, serialism, sonorism, aleatoric and collage. Although the works were highly appreciated, none of these styles interested A. Pärt for a long time. However, these compositions already had something that remained in his later minimalist “tintinnabuli” style: powerful, impressive dramaturgy, concentrated musical material and developed form.
Until 1976, A. Pärt spent a long time searching for a new creative path that would better reflect his worldview. The composer turned to early music and immersed himself in the study of Gregorian chant, the Notre Dame school, and Renaissance polyphony. The result of these intensive creative searches was the “tintinnabuli” style, in which A. Pärt continues to successfully create to this day. This style first appeared in a short piece for piano “Für Alina” (1976), and soon in the works “Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten” (1977), “Fratres” (1977), “Tabula rasa” (1977), and “Spiegel in Spiegel” (1978). The musical material in compositions written in the “tintinnabuli” style is extremely concentrated and expresses the composer’s special relationship with silence. Tintinnabuli is also a kind of ideology: this music deeply reflects the composer's approach to life, based on Christian values, religious practice, and the search for truth, beauty, and purity.
A. Pärt achieved worldwide fame in 1984, when the ECM Records label released a recording of the work “Tabula rasa”. Soon the composer’s music spread widely to the programs of many of the most famous festivals, orchestras and ensembles, as well as to television and radio broadcasts. A. Pärt’s works are commissioned by institutions of the highest caliber – for example, in 2015 the Los Angeles Philharmonic commissioned his opus “Greater Antiphons”, which was premiered by the LA Phil orchestra conducted by the famous Gustavo Dudamel.
This concert will feature A. Pärt's monumental work "Kanon pokajanen". The approximately one and a half hour long piece will be performed by the GRAMMY winner, one of the best choirs in the world - the Latvian Radio Choir. Founded in 1940, the professional group is today famous for its special versatility and "Nordic sound", the choir has accumulated a wide repertoire from early music to contemporary opuses and is like a creative laboratory for composers, encouraging them to expand the boundaries of classical vocal performance.
The Latvian Radio Choir has released a number of acclaimed albums with labels such as Ondine, Hyperion, Deutsche Grammophon and ECM. In 2014, the choir won a GRAMMY for its recording of A. Pärt's Adam's Lament, and in 2023, it won a Gramophone Award for its album John Cage: Choral Works. Last year, the Latvian Radio Choir released two more highly acclaimed recordings: Aletheia Choral Works (2024), featuring works by Lithuanian composer Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, was included in NPR's top ten classical music albums of 2024, and Angele Dei, featuring Latvian contemporary music, was among Gramophone magazine's top albums of 2024. The ensemble has performed in prestigious concert halls – Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbe Philharmonic, Paris Philharmonic and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, and has also participated in major classical music festivals – Salzburg, Lucerne, BBC Proms, etc.
A concert dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the legendary composer Arvo Pärt with the GRAMMY-winning Latvian Radio Choir will be held on November 5 at the LVSO Concert Hall in Vilnius. Tickets are available from Bilietai.lt.
