Arvo Pärt was born in Paide, Järva County, Estonia. His musical studies began in 1954 at the Tallinn Music Secondary School, interrupted less than a year later while he fulfilled his National Service obligation as oboist and side-drummer in an army band. He returned to Middle School for a year before joining the Tallinn Conservatory in 1957, where his composition teacher was Professor Heino Eller. Pärt started work as a recording engineer with Estonian Radio, wrote music for the stage and received numerous commissions for film scores so that, by the time he graduated from the Conservatory in 1963, he could already be considered a professional composer. A year before leaving, he won first prize in the All-Union Young Composers' Competition for a children's cantata, Our Garden, and an oratorio, Stride of the World.
Today Arvo Pärt is best known for his choral works, which he started to produce in the 1980s, after his emigration from the former Soviet Union to Germany, Berlin. Before that he had written his most recognised works from the 1970s, Fratres, Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, and Tabula Rasa. In 1978 Pärt composed Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in Mirror).
Pärt's oeuvre is generally divided into two periods. His early works ranged from rather severe neo-classical styles influenced by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Bartók. He then began to compose using Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique and serialism. This, however, not only earned the ire of the Soviet establishment, but also proved to be a creative dead-end. When early works were banned by Soviet censors, Pärt entered the first of several periods of contemplative silence, during which he studied choral music from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries.
The spirit of early European polyphony informed the composition of Pärt's transitional third symphony (1971); thereafter he immersed himself in early music, re-investigating the roots of western music. He studied plainsong, Gregorian chant, and the emergence of polyphony in the Renaissance. The music that began to emerge after this period was radically different. This period of new compositions included Fratres, Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, and Tabula rasa.
Pärt describes it as tintinnabuli: like the ringing of bells. The music is characterised by simple harmonies, often single unadorned notes, or triad chords which form the basis of western harmony. These are reminiscent of ringing bells. Tintinnabuli works are rhythmically simple, and do not change tempo. The influence of early music is clear. Another characteristic of Pärt's later works is that they are frequently settings for sacred texts, although he mostly chooses Latin or the Church Slavonic language used in Orthodox liturgy instead of his native Estonian language. Large-scale works inspired by religious texts include St John Passion, Te Deum, and Litany. Choral works from this period include Magnificat and The Beatitudes.
A new composition, Für Lennart, written for the memory of the Estonian President Lennart Meri, was played at his funeral service on 2nd April 2006. In response to the murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow on 7th October 2006, Pärt declared that all his works performed in 2006-2007 would be in commemoration of her death.
Pärt was honoured as the featured composer of the 2008 RTÉ Living Music Festival in Dublin, Ireland. He was also recently commissioned by Louth Contemporary Music Society to compose a new choral work based on St Patrick's Breastplate, to be premiered in 2008 in Louth, Ireland.
Es sang vor langen Jahren
Arvo Pärt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(Clemens Maria Brentano)
Es sang vor langen Jahren
Wohl auch die Nachtigall;
Das war wohl süßer Schall,
Da wir zusammen waren.
Und spinne so allein
Den Faden klar und rein,
Solang der Mond wird scheinen.
Da wir zusammen waren,
Da sang die Nachtigall;
Nun mahnet mich ihr Schall,
Daß du von mir gefahren.
So oft der Mond mag scheinen,
Gedenk ich dein allein;
Mein Herz ist klar und rein,
Gott wolle uns vereinen!
Seit du von mir gefahren,
Singt stets die Nachtigall;
Ich denk bei ihrem Schall,
Wie wir zusammen waren.
Gott wolle uns vereinen,
Hier spinn ich so allein;
Der Mond scheint klar und rein,
Ich sing und möchte weinen!
The lyrics of this song by Arvo Pärt, Es sang vor langen Jahren, tell the story of a lonely person who remembers a sweet, past love. The first stanza recalls the time when the nightingale sang sweetly while the couple, who were once together, were also together. The second stanza, however, presents the singer as alone, spinning thread on a spindle in the moonlight, as the nightingale sings. The sound of the nightingale, which had once been sweet, now serves as a painful reminder that the singer's loved one has left. The third and final stanza expresses a hope for divine intervention to bring the couple back together. The singer still spins thread in the moonlight and hears the nightingale's song, but now longs to cry while singing.
The song is a poignant exploration of human connections and emotions, as well as a meditation on the motif of separation and the possibility of reunion. The use of the nightingale as a symbol of love and longing is typical in German romantic poetry, and Pärt's setting of the poem captures the melancholy, wistful mood of the lyrics perfectly. The repetition of phrases such as "Da wir zusammen waren" (when we were together) and "Gott wolle uns vereinen" (may God unite us) creates a sense of yearning and nostalgia, and the sparse, simple melody underscores the emotional weight of the words.
Line by Line Meaning
Es sang vor langen Jahren
Many years ago a nightingale sang.
Wohl auch die Nachtigall;
The nightingale sang beautifully.
Das war wohl süßer Schall,
Her song was sweet.
Da wir zusammen waren.
We were together and happy.
Ich sing und kann nicht weinen
I sing but I cannot cry.
Und spinne so allein
I spin my thread alone.
Den Faden klar und rein,
I spin the thread clear and fine.
Solang der Mond wird scheinen.
Until the moon shines.
Da wir zusammen waren,
When we were together,
Da sang die Nachtigall;
The nightingale sang.
Nun mahnet mich ihr Schall,
Now her sound reminds me
Daß du von mir gefahren.
That you have gone away from me.
So oft der Mond mag scheinen,
Whenever the moon shines,
Gedenk ich dein allein;
I think of you alone.
Mein Herz ist klar und rein,
My heart is pure and clean,
Gott wolle uns vereinen!
God, please unite us!
Seit du von mir gefahren,
Since you have left me,
Singt stets die Nachtigall;
The nightingale continues to sing.
Ich denk bei ihrem Schall,
Her sound makes me think
Wie wir zusammen waren.
Of how we used to be together.
Gott wolle uns vereinen,
God, please unite us,
Hier spinn ich so allein;
Here I spin alone.
Der Mond scheint klar und rein,
The moon shines clear and pure,
Ich sing und möchte weinen!
I sing and want to cry!
Contributed by Adalyn S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
albert combrink
Hands down my favourite recording of this work - EXQUISITELY sung.
Alberto Fassone
Pärts Musik ist immer von einer tiefen Spiritualität durchdrungen und kompositionstechnisch genial! Vielen Dank fürs Hochladen dieses kleinen Meisterwerks.
Dana Šumová
DOKONALÉ!!! Děkuji a zdravím z Česka.
아녜스와 도봉산 희극인
고맙숩니다~
분단극복
소식 감사드립니다