Arvo Pärt (11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of classical and sacr… Read Full Bio ↴Arvo Pärt (11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of classical and sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-invented compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music is in part inspired by Gregorian chant. Pärt has been the most performed living composer in the world for 5 consecutive years.

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.

Parce mihi domine
Arvo Pärt Lyrics

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Parce mihi Domine Parce mihi, Domine, nihil enim sunt dies mei.
Quid est homo, quia magniftcas eum? Aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum? Visitas eum diluculo et subito probas illum.
Usquequo non parcis mihi, nec dimittis me, ut glutiam salivam meom? Peccavi, quid faciem tibi, o custos hominum? Quare posuisti me contrarium tibi, et factus sum mihimetipsi gravis? Cur non tollis peccatum meum, et quare non aufers iniquitatem meam? Ecce, nunc in pulvere dormian, et si mane me quaesieris, non subsistam.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Arvo Pärt's song Parce mihi domine are translated to "Spare me, Lord, for my days are as nothing. What is man, that Thou should magnify him? Or what set Thine heart upon him? Thou visiteth him in the morning and suddenly Thou dost test him. How long wilt Thou not spare me, nor forgive me, that I may swallow my spittle? I have sinned, what shall I do unto Thee, O Thou preserver of men? Why hast Thou set me as Thy target, so that I am a burden to myself? Why dost Thou not take away my sin, and why dost Thou not remove my iniquity? Behold, now I shall sleep in the dust, and Thou shall seek me in the morning, but I will not be."

The lyrics reflect upon the fragility of human life and our insignificance in the grand scheme of things. The author of the lyrics questions their relationship with God and why they have been burdened with sin. Despite their sense of unworthiness, they still plead for God's mercy and forgiveness.

Arvo Pärt's composition of the song is in a style called tintinnabuli, which he developed in the 1970s. The style features a simplistic and repetitive melody and a slow pace.

Line by Line Meaning

Parce mihi Domine
Lord, have mercy on me

Parce mihi, Domine, nihil enim sunt dies mei.
Have mercy on me, Lord, for my days are nothing

Quid est homo, quia magniftcas eum?
What is man, that you should exalt him?

Aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum?
Or why do you set your heart on him?

Visitas eum diluculo et subito probas illum.
You visit him early and scrutinize him suddenly.

Usquequo non parcis mihi, nec dimittis me, ut glutiam salivam meom?
How long will you not have mercy on me, or leave me until I swallow my own spit?

Peccavi, quid faciem tibi, o custos hominum?
I have sinned, what will I do to you, oh keeper of men?

Quare posuisti me contrarium tibi, et factus sum mihimetipsi gravis?
Why have you made me your adversary, and made me burdensome to myself?

Cur non tollis peccatum meum, et quare non aufers iniquitatem meam?
Why do you not take away my sin, and why do you not remove my iniquity?

Ecce, nunc in pulvere dormian, et si mane me quaesieris, non subsistam.
Behold, now I will lie down in the dust, and if you seek me in the morning, I will not exist.

Writer(s): Christobal De Morales, Jan Gargarek

Contributed by Dominic C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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