Canon
Where to start with Pärt
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
OrchestralTabula rasa — Concerto for 2 violins, prepared piano and strings
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Vocal... which was the son of...
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KeyboardAnnum per annum
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ChamberArbos, for 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, and percussion
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OrchestralFratres, for strings and percussion
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OrchestralSymphony no. 3
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Vocal2 Slavic Psalms, for chorus or soloists
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Vocal7 Magnificat Antiphons
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VocalAdam's Lament, for chorus and orchestra
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VocalAlleluja Tropus, for chorus and orchestra
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VocalAn den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten, for soloists or chorus and organ
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OrchestralAn den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten, for trombone and chamber orchestra
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VocalAnd One of the Pharisees, for 3 voices or chorus
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KeyboardAnnum per annum
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ChamberArbos, for 7 recorders and 3 triangles ad lib
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into Pärt's catalogueMost Popular
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Spiegel im Spiegel
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Fratres
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Tabula Rasa
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Für Alina (piano)
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Spiegel im Spiegel
Most Acclaimed
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Tabula Rasa
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Passio (St. John Passion)
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Te Deum
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Miserere
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Berlin Mass
Most Weird
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Symphony No. 1 ”Polyphonic”his first symphony — aggressive, serial, completely unlike his later minimalism; he stopped composing for 8 years after this to find his voice
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Credo (1968)begins with Bach’s C major Prelude, descends into chaos, returns to Bach — was banned in the Soviet Union for its overt religious text
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Perpetuum mobileearly aleatory work — before tintinnabuli
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Lamentatepiano + orchestra — written in response to seeing Antony Gormley’s ”Broken Column” sculpture
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Adam\’s Lamentthe most harmonically rich of his recent works — expanding the tintinnabuli system
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityWorks 106
- Orchestral
- ● Tabula rasa — Concerto for 2 violins, prepared piano and strings
- Fratres, for strings and percussion
- Symphony no. 3
- An den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten, for trombone and chamber orchestra
- Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, for string orchestra and bell
- Collage sur B-A-C-H, for oboe, string orchestra, harpsichord, and piano
- Concerto piccolo over B-A-C-H, for trumpet, strings, harpsichord and piano
- Festina lente, for strings and harp ad lib
- Fratres for violin, string orchestra and percussion
- Für Lennart in memoriam
- La Sindone
- Lamentate, for piano and orchestra
- Orient and Occident, for string orchestra
- Perpetuum mobile, op. 10
- Pro et contra: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
- Psalom, for string orchestra
- Silouans Song, for string orchestra
- Summa, for strings
- Symphony no. 1, op. 9, "Polyphonic"
- Symphony no. 2
- Symphony no. 4
- Trisagion, for string orchestra
- Wenn Bach Bienen gezuchtet hatte, for wind quintet, piano, string orchestra and percussion
- Vocal
- ... which was the son of...
- 2 Slavic Psalms, for chorus or soloists
- 7 Magnificat Antiphons
- Adam's Lament, for chorus and orchestra
- Alleluja Tropus, for chorus and orchestra
- An den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten, for soloists or chorus and organ
- And One of the Pharisees, for 3 voices or chorus
- Beatus Petronius, for chorus and orchestra
- Berliner Messe, for chorus and organ
- Bogoróditse dyévo
- Cantate Domino, for chorus and organ
- Cantique des degrés, for choir and orchestra
- Cecilia, vergine romana, for chorus and orchestra
- Christmas Lullaby, for chorus and orchestra
- Como cierva sedienta, for female choir and orchestra
- Credo, for chorus, piano, and orchestra
- Da pacem Domine
- De Profundis
- De profundis, for male chorus, percussion, and organ
- Dopo la vittoria: Little cantata
- Es sang vor langen Jahren, for countertenor, violin, and viola
- Estonian Lullaby, for chorus and orchestra
- I Am the True Vine
- In principio, for mixed chorus and orchestra
- Kanon Pokajanen,
- Kuus, kuus kallike, Estonian lullaby for 2 voices and ensemble
- L'Abbé Agathon, soloists, chorus and orchestra
- Litany, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra
- Littlemore Tractus, for chorus and organ
- Magnificat
- Memento
- Miserere, for soloists, chorus, chamber ensemble, and organ
- Missa sillabica
- Morning Star, for chorus
- Most Holy Mother of God
- My Heart's in the Highlands, for chorus and organ
- Nunc dimittis
- Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem
- Passio, for tenor, bass, vocal quartet, chorus, oboe, bassoon, violin, cello and organ
- Peace Upon You, Jerusalem, for chorus
- Salve regina, for chorus and organ
- Sarah Was Ninety Years Old, for soprano, 2 tenors, organ, and percussion
- Sei gelobt, du Baum, for baritone and early music ensemble
- Solfeggio
- Spiegel im spiegel
- Stabat Mater, for choir and string orchestra
- Stabat Mater, for soprano, alto, tenor, violin, viola, and cello
- Statuit ei Dominus, for chorus and orchestra
- Summa
- Te Deum, for double chorus, strings, prepared piano, and tape
- The Beatitudes, for chorus and organ
- The Deer's Cry, for chorus
- The Woman with the Alabaster Box
- Tribute to Caesar
- Triodion
- Vater unser
- Veni creator, for chorus and organ
- Keyboard
- Annum per annum
- Annum per annum
- Für Alina
- Für Anna Maria
- Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäler
- Pari intervallo
- Partita, op. 2
- Piano Sonatine, op. 1, no. 1
- Piano Sonatine, op. 1, no. 2
- Trivium
- Variations for the Healing of Arinushka
- Chamber
- Arbos, for 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, and percussion
- Arbos, for 7 recorders and 3 triangles ad lib
- Collage over B-A-C-H, for strings, oboe, harpsichord, and piano
- Fratres, for 4, 8 or 12 cellos
- Fratres, for cello and piano
- Fratres, for chamber ensemble
- Fratres, for string quartet
- Fratres, for strings and percussion
- Fratres, for violin and piano
- Fratres, for wind octet and percussion
- Mein Weg, for 14 strings and percussion
- Mozart-Adagio, for violin, cello and piano
- Quintettino, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon, op. 13
- Spiegel im Spiegel, for violin and piano
- Summa, for violin, 2 violas and cello