Gorecki: The Path to the 'Miserere'. Like Arvo Part, Gorecki Finds Voices a Natural Medium for His Music

"This article comprises an analysis of two of the religious works signed by the Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt, both written in the tintinnabuli technique, 9 years apart - De profundis and Miserere. After an overview of the tintinnabuli concept and after indicating their technical features, I have observed how the minimalist compositional method, specific to Pärt, has acquired elasticity, as years went by. Nonetheless, the hermeneutical principles which the composer intended to soundly integrate in his composition style are preserved, regardless of how the tintinnabuli technique arises (strict or elastic). In both musical works analyzed, the tintinnabuli technique (technique used in composition since 1976) does not refer to serialization of sound parameters, but addresses the algorithmizing process of the musical material, which originates from formal and philosophical thinking. Keywords: tintinnabuli, minimalism, holy minimalism, Arvo Pärt."

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Mediation and The Marketplace

Music after the Fall ◽

10.1525/california/9780520283145.003.0002 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Tim Rutherford-Johnson

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

New Music ◽

Commercial Market ◽

John Tavener ◽

Bang On A Can ◽

History Of ◽

The Media ◽

Arvo Part ◽

Comprehensive History

Providing first a comprehensive history of spiritual minimalism– the extraordinarily successful phenomenon that made unlikely stars of Henryk Górecki, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener in the early 1990s–this chapter makes the case that by the end of the 20th century new music had entered into a new and transformative relationship with the media and the commercial market, through new listening practices such as soundtracking, and through marketing towards new audiences. This is supported by discussions of composers and collectives that have particularly engaged with these, including Bang on a Can, Nonclassical and, in particular, Edition Wandelweiser.

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