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experience and perception of silence that, much like the
apophatic mystical tradition of the Eastern Orthodox
Church that Pärt embraces, seeks to overcome chaotic
multiplicity and establish contact with a true and
authentic unifying essence. Pärt has coined the word
‘tintinnabulation’ to describes this style of his work
which dates from the early 70s:
“Tintinnabulation is the area I sometimes wander
into when I am searching for answers – in my life,
in my music, in my work … the complex and manyfaceted
only confuses me and I must search for unity
… everything that is unimportant falls away. Tintinnabulation
is like this. Here I am alone with silence.
I have discovered that it is enough when a single note
is beautifully played. This note, or a silent beat, or a
moment of silence comfort me.”
Before our first meeting at the Royal Academy of
Music, I attended a rehearsal of Pärt’s Miserere, during
which the composer crept stealthily from every corner
of the room, from instrument to instrument, bass to soprano,
listening, suggesting and often wincing when the
instruments and vocals did not harmonise “like Romeo
and Juliet. My work is like a puzzle or a mosaic,” he
claimed, “if one piece is lost or out of place, then the
whole work cannot function properly: the machine cannot
turn back once it has begun.”
After the rehearsal I was able to spend some time
with Arvo and Nora Pärt. Pärt himself is as ‘present’
BUY Arvo Pärt music online from and
as his music; his deep, dark Slavonic eyes pierce you
as sharply as any of his religious works. We discussed
my intentions to write about the ‘philosophy’ behind
his music. “‘Philosophy’? He has none”, his wife cut in
sharply in broken English, “he learns everything from
the old Church Fathers.” To really understand his music,
she continued, you must first understand how this
religious tradition (Eastern Orthodoxy) flows through
him. Her husband agreed: I was therefore invited to
spend a day with the Pärt’s at the Stavropegic Monastery
of St. John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights, Essex
the following week.
Mr Pärt met me from the station, and we spoke of
my work on Nikos Kazantzakis (whom Pärt clearly
disliked for being too ‘unorthodox’) whilst we drove
to his house in Essex. For the first couple of hours
we discussed my proposed book, eating strawberries
and drinking tea whilst being watched closely by
the numerous severe-looking icons that decorate his
sitting-room.
Despite the obvious language barrier (I do not speak
Estonian; Mr Pärt’s English is commendable but limited),
it was also apparent that there were further barriers
to overcome if my project was to be given the green
light. We talked philosophy, theology and music, but Mr
Pärt was visibly uncomfortable and nervous. Any book
about him, he claimed, must begin with the substance
of music itself – the arrangement of the notes. It is from
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