Arvo Pärt - Trisagion - Estonian National Symphony Orchestra - Dir. Paavo Järvi (2002)

Arvo Pärt's Trisagion (1992) blurs the distinction between evocation and portrayal, expression and imitation. Written in honor of the 500th anniversary of the parish of Prophet Elias in Ilomantsi, the music itself seems to take on a devotional attitude. It is composed in Pärt's distinctive "tintinnabula" style -- a spare contrapuntal structure rich with religious symbolism. Moreover, the structure and phraseology of the work -- the contours that the lines follow -- are derived in a very real way from a religious text, even though the work is composed for strings only.
The tintinnabula style as seen at work in Trisagion involves the combination of two kinds of voices: one type follows gentle, diatonic, scalar lines along stepwise paths; the other type, called tintinnabula lines (after the Latin word for "bell"), engages in counterpoint with the melodic voice by leaping between tones above and below it, always confining itself to tones within the tonic chord. The result is a harmonic atmosphere in which the tonic center is always present, but frequently engaged in a relationship of resistance with non-tonic-chord tones.
The relationship between melodic and tintinnabula voices suggests numerous religious metaphors (some of them identified by Pärt himself): sin and redemption, the opposition and convergence of the spirit and the body, Jesus' mixed ancestry of humanity and divinity. This meaning is made even more explicit in the Slavonic text (also given in translation) which underlies the score. This is the logical extension of the technique used a year earlier in Silouan's Song; in the earlier work, subtitled "My soul yearns after the Lord...," the "text" is taken from the writings of the sagely monk whose name the work bears. In both cases, unbeknownst to the uninformed listener, every stop and go in the music is dictated by the syllabic number and accentuation, phrasing, and punctuation of the text. To those listeners ignorant of the Slavonic language, this probably has an effect quite similar to that of listening to the Slavonic prayer itself: though words pass by without comprehension, one identifies the devotional feeling and the calm, deliberate declamation of prayer.

-- Jeremy Grimshaw

[starfieldofenhesse]

For me, this piece is a dialogue between myself as a dying person on the deathbed and death itself. It's a constant plea and the relentless response. The strings mimic a heartbeat, which, in the end, slows down and becomes irregular... and fades away...

[MarianneSchroeder]

So beautiful. Arvo Pärt is my very favourite contemporary composer. ❤️

[annacyran]

Taki Talent...jestem wdzieczna za Arvo...za Hashem...ze obdarza ludzi dobrej woli - takim Talentem ! Wtedy ten okrutny swiat staje się Paradisem...Wiecznością ! 💙💫🎼🙏✨✨❤️

[georgealderson]

Maestro Pärt never fails to move me with his music. With just a few notes I am spellbound by it and wonder what he is like as a man. I imagine him to be very pensive and fascinating to hear
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this piece. It will stay with me in life's challenges as it says more than words in such circumstances

[StewartBlues]

Beauty and strength in one outstanding piece, utterly magnificent.

[rudi]

Grüße an die HSZGler, die des als Vorbeleg bearbeiten müssen

[jesusperezdemendiguren]

Descubrid a Arvo Part.. Merece la pena

[salehsaleh]

How can this heavenly piece of art has only 2 K views.

[phantasmtheater]

Quite astonishing in every detail. Shades of Hovhaness.

[RobertLocksley]

This theme superbly links the Old Worlds of the Rhomaioi and the Varangians who had little in common, but found cause for a good fight and celebration therein that their separate but similar gods allowed. Here's to their combined memory that won history for us all.

[baruchmtz]

Aquí es dónde vuelve la fe, en la potencia que me disuelve y comulgo con está creación.

[daysofbeingwildmx]

God may or may not exist, but Part's music definitely does.

[meegomae]

magnificent, predictable after heavy metal comes peace!

[jeanaspirateur]

This song is about the Byzantine Empire, yet it lasts 14:53... I see what you did there

[camusmonamour]

savez-vous ou trouver les partitions de ce compositeur ? merci.
-un contrebassiste français

[tedmoffat]

We can't control the wind but we can adjust our sails

[raymondtogtman]

Holiness has a dark side, as when Moses ascended Mt Sinai and was able to see only Yahweh's back.

[gregorypatriciaandjiyajais]

the Byzantine Empire ends in 1453 AD a Tribute to history

[raymondtogtman]

I don't hear any counterpoint here.