The University of Akron IdeaExchange@UAkron The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors Honors Research Projects College

Spring 2018 The ouchT of Arvo Pärt Gabriel Lane [email protected]

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Honors Project

The Touch of Arvo Pärt

Most time periods of Western classical music have their own school of thought, with each composer adding their personal touch. But the Modern Era is different - each composer is going in wildly different directions. Arvo Pärt's music is also unique. In 1960, he composed the first piece of serialism Estonia saw, Nekrolog.1 Aggressive and filled with dissonance, the sounds he created in his early days were far different from what he strives for today. In 1968, he crafted Credo, a self-portrait of his frustrations with creativity.2 He felt he had become locked in "dry, desiccated, 'children's games' of avant garde." But he also saw a "world of purity represented by tonality."3 Using a quotation from

Johann Sebastian Bach and religious text, he fused these worlds of thought together for this single composition, but then went into exile for eight years in attempt to solve his creative struggles. 4 During this transition era, a single composition was constructed, his Third Symphony (1971). In 1976, the search for his voice was finally resolved with Für Alina - it was here where he invented a new style of composition, Tintinnabuli.5 Inspired by the Medieval Era with its Gregorian chant-like sounds, the style is meditative and characterized by sounds reminiscent of ringing bells. With the touch of his pen, Arvo

Pärt is one of the most popularly performed living Western classical composers.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Arvo Pärt is so revered is because Western classical music recently went through a period containing avant garde techniques. The music of today is shifting back to tonality and modality, thus a plausible reason for his popularity. YouTube is the most popular website for video uploads, and is commonly used by the public. Thus, one way of researching how Pärt's music effects the public is by reading through the YouTube comment sections of his compositions and simply

1 Service, A Guide to Arvo Pärt's Music 2 Ibid 3 Ibid 4 Ibid 5 Photographs, Arvo Pärt explaining the story of the birth of "Für Alina" observing how people react. One of Pärt's most popular and powerful compositions is Spiegel im

Spiegel (1978) written for cello and piano. This piece has been transcribed for a variety of solo instruments, including violin, viola, bass, clarinet, oboe, horn, trombone, and many others. Of all the recordings on YouTube of this piece, the one with the most views is performed by Benjamin Hudson on viola and Jürgen Kruse on piano and was uploaded by the YouTube username "playingmusiconmars" on June 2nd 2010. As of April 25th 2018, the video has 2,931,782 views, over 19,000 likes, 346 dislikes, and 1,165 comments.6 To give a perspective on how significant this number of views is, the most viewed modern Western classical composition is Philip Glass's Glassworks, uploaded by username

"Socrate Satrapoulos" on April 3rd 2013, which has 4,399,217 views, over 29,000 likes, 744 dislikes, and 1,726 comments.7 The number of views on Spiegel im Spiegel is quite close to the amount here.

Nearly everyone on this video is deeply effected on an emotional level. Here is one example from a listener with the YouTube username Mariano Rodriguez: "Heart wrenching sorrow at its purist.." [sic]8 Username Bruno Matos writes, "Every time I hear this song I can not hold back the tears." [sic]9 Many people appear to cry when listening to this piece. A listener with the username

Natalie brake says, "Am I wrong to assume that listening to this music will melt even the meanest of hearts? I think it would, it is so tender and pure." [sic]10 Username Joel Lopes asks, "Can anyone tell me if anyone feels this sensation of sad peace, that I'm feeling right now listening to this song?" [sic] 11

Overall, many listeners tend enjoy the simplistic beauty of Spiegel im Spiegel.

While people here are emotionally taken away, I analyzed his compositions and I have a theory as to why his music causes intense feelings of relaxation or sadness. The style of the composition is

Tintinnabuli. This is a technique best described as two types of voices functioning together. The first is the tintinnabular voice, which arpeggiates the tonic triad. In Spiegel im Spiegel, the piano acts as the

6 playingmusiconmars, Spiegel im Spiegel 7 Socrate Satrapoulos, Philip Glass - Glassworks (complete) 8 playingmusiconmars, Spiegel im Spiegel 9 Ibid 10 Ibid 11 Ibid tintinnabular voice. As previously mentioned, the effect is a bell-like sound, reminiscent of Gregorian chant. The second is the melodic voice, moving in a stepwise, diatonic way. Here, the solo cello (or violin for the purpose of the sheet music) acts as the melodic voice. The violin acts like a pendulum around the note A4. The melody sometimes steps up towards or away from the A. In other cases, it steps down towards or away from the A. But, it always resolves on the A and never begins on the A, with the exception of the last note of the entire piece, which is designed to form closure rather than continuation.

As show in the image below, the piece begins with the piano arpeggiating an F Major chord in second inversion, with F1 and F2 whole notes below several octaves emulating a bell sound. Each phrase is separated by the violin sustaining an A4 underneath an F Major chord, which is the tonal center for the melody. When the violin enters on a G4, the harmony turns into a G minor seventh chord with an added 4th and no 5th. Non-tertian chords like this provide any composition with a simultaneous feeling of relaxation and tension. The Perfect 4ths are sensory consonances, but stylistically considered to be dissonant in common practice harmony, which makes moments like this special. Additionally,

Major 2nds and minor 7ths are present, which act as "soft dissonances." An example of a harsh dissonance would be a tritone, or a minor 2nd.

But the most interesting aspect of Spiegel im Spiegel is looking at the music from a linear point of view, rather than vertically as depicted above. In the same phrase below, Part employs a clear use of step-progression. This is a technique used throughout the piece.

In the left hand of the piano, there is a sustained F1-F2 in the bass. This note F is the tonal center for the piece - it always returns throughout the composition. As the work develops, there are increasingly longer time periods without the F, but it always manages to come back. In this image, I can see lower neighbors and common tones across the piano line. Interestingly, the entrance in the violin line is an incomplete neighbor. The common tones add to the feeling of continuity with the sustained F in the bass.

From a vertical perspective, the second phrase progresses from a B-flat Major 7th chord in first inversion to the F Major chord. But linearly, I can see something bigger.

This is the first introduction of upper neighbors in the piano line. Interestingly, upper neighbors are classified as non-chord tones, and while these notes are all part of a B-flat Major 7 th chord in first inversion vertically, they simultaneously act as non-chord tones linearly.

The third phrase begins on an F Major chord and then progresses to a G Minor seventh, but this is where an interesting pattern occurs. The chord has no 5th, this missing note gives the chord a non- tertian feel.

As stated before, the G Minor seventh with the added 4th in the first phrase also does not contain a 5th.

The lack of completion gives this moment a darker, pensive character. Across the phrase, an extended appoggiatura appears in the piano and violin lines. The notes skip down, and then step back up. They are non-chord tones juxtaposed in tonal chords - this helps make the music heavier with emotion.

In the 4th phrase, another beautiful technique and recurring pattern takes place. Pärt uses tension and release in a subtle manner, such as a chord in its inversion resolving to its root position.

As seen above, the A Minor first inversion chord resolves into its root position. Linearly, another instance of extended appoggiaturas can be seen in the piano and violin, as well as a common tone in the piano. At this point, it is important to note that the deep sounds of the F1-F2 in the bass return at the resolution of this idea, emphasizing the continuity and tonal center of this piece.

There are sixteen phrases total, which follow similar principals to the types described above.

Skipping to the fifteenth phrase, the most powerful moment in the composition takes place, and acts as a culmination of many previous ideas and techniques. Beginning at measure 102, the "bell sounds" in the piano are most important. As seen above, the "bell sounds" are outlining an F Major chord - emphasizing the tonal center of the piece, over and under the cascading harmonies. While there is a clear step progression in the violin, there are two additional progressions occurring horizontally in the piano, or tintinnabuli voice. The use of common tones in the middle quarter note is ever present, in addition to the lower neighbor placed in the unique G Minor 7th chord without a 5th. The highest note on the piano also returns in the ending.

Going back to my observations of the YouTube comment section, the sensations around Spiegel im Spiegel generally fall into two categories. The first is uncontrollable sadness. The other is a sense of eternity, which is achieved through a continuous emphasis of the F Major chord and the low F1-F2

"bell sounds" in the piano. What makes this piece so powerful is the clarity of step progressions across each phrase. Not only can I observe this on paper, but I can easily hear it upon each listening. The listener can hear the voices slowly rising and falling in and out of the harmonic plane. The deep expression from the violin's delicate entrances and waning exits further add to the atmosphere. But still, there are more reasons as to why Spiegel im Spiegel achieves a somber character.

One of the most important aspects of this piece is the semitone. Described as a weeping interval, the use of a semitone is a powerful compositional technique. According to Jamshed

Bharucha's model of Melodic Anchoring, there is a pulling sensation "towards stable pitches in the scale, as like an arrow 'yearning' towards the stable tone."12 He goes on to write that "notes that are a semitone away from the tonic having the greatest 'yearning' effect."13 Moreover, the idea of a semitone in Western Classical music is generally associated with grief. Raymond Monelle expresses that "the moan of the dissonant falling second expresses perfectly the idea of lament."14 While there is evidence to support the expressive affect of a semitone, what ultimately determines the power of this interval is the context it is written in. In the second phrase, the semitone is present in the violin and the piano as seen below.

12 Bharucha, Melodic Anchoring, 386 13 Ibid 14 Monelle, The Sense of Music: Semitonic Essays, 72 Skipping to the fourth phrase, the same semitone returns in the melody, but also in the upper notes of the piano during the B flat Major 7th chord and across to the F Major chord.

In the third phrase below, the semitone is in the piano. But in this case, the chord progression adds more power to the semitone than in either previous example. As seen above, the F Major chord progresses to a G Minor seventh chord without a 5th. Because this missing note gives the chord a non-tertian feel, the semitone achieves more of a weeping affect in the context of the music. Jumping to the fifteenth phrase, the semitones begin taking place in new areas.

The semitones span across sections where chords in their inversions resolve to their root positions, such as the C Major chord in first inversion to its root position, and then to the F Major chord. Moreover, there is a chord progression a semitone apart, the B-flat Major 7th chord to the A Minor chord in first inversion. This technique further adds to the affect of tension and release. While Arvo Pärt embraces tonality, these moments are subtle, but powerful techniques. The beauty in this piece is one of soothing character. But highlights of harmonic tension, such as the semitone spanning across the F Major chord to the G Minor seventh chord without a 5th, make the listener focused in on every moment. It brings intensity to the calm sounds, which swivels the audience. We tend to associate beauty with perfect harmonic structure and progressions, which is easy to process. But when moments of dissonance enter the music, it skews our emotions. No longer do we have a logical way of processing things, we now have to think more deeply than before. This technique brings out unique qualities in the scope of beauty different from the typical forefront.

Since its creation in 1978, Spiegel im Spiegel is a deeply resonating piece of music with listeners. On a personal level, this work makes me weep. But, it also helps relax me and release tension.

While this work has simple, minimal aspects, there is a multitude of techniques spanning across each phrase, giving this piece considerable emotion. Music considered "beautiful" absolutely can be complex, contrapuntal, interwoven, technical, and rich with a profusion of chromatic harmonies. But, music of simplicity can be enjoyed by listeners as "beautiful." There is more to Spiegel im Spiegel than what meets the eye at first glance. During the first week of my Freshman year of music theory with Dr.

Brownlow, he asked the class, "Music theory is for us to help make sense of the music we study. Now, you all must have your favorite compositions. Wouldn't you want to learn more about how one of your favorite pieces of music is constructed?" Ever since I first listened to Spiegel im Spiegel during my

Sophomore year of college, I wanted to discover why this piece brings eternal emotion not only into the lives of other listeners, but into my life. Now, I have a better understanding as to why. Citations

Bharucha, Jamshed J. "Melodic Anchoring," Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 1 No. 3, Spring, 1996; (pp. 383-400) Accessed April 10, 2018. http://mp.ucpress.edu/content/13/3/383

"Photographs: Arvo Pärt explaining the story of the birth of Für Alina," Arvo Pärt Centre, last modified on January 11, 2016. Accessed April 25, 2018. http://www.arvopart.ee/en/2016/11/photographs-arvo-part-explaining-the-story-of-the-birth-of-fur- alina/ playingmusiconmars, "Spiegel im Spiegel," YouTube, last modified June 2, 2010. Accessed April 25, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ6Mzvh3XCc

Monelle, Raymond, The Sense of Music: Semiotic Essays (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000).

Service, Tom, "A Guide to Arvo Pärt's Music," The Guardian. Published June 18, 2012. Accessed March 15, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2012/jun/18/arvo-part-contemporary-music-guide

Socrate Satrapoulos, "Philip Glass - Glassworks (complete)," YouTube, last modified April 3, 2013. Accessed April 25, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Stu7h7Qup8