The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Works and Life of Arvo Pärt

Abstract

Arvo Pärt has composed music for a variety of texts belonging to the Christian tradition. Yet there is one text that has received more emphasis in his oeuvre than any other: the Niceno-Constantinopolitan (NC) Creed, which found its way into Missa syllabica (1977), Summa (1977), Berliner Messe (1990/2002) and Orient & Occident (1999/2000). The NC Creed, forged during alternating periods of ecclesiastical unity and conflict, fuses theological influences from both East and West and has remained for over 1600 years one of Christianity’s central documents. Even so, it is far from obvious how this text found its way into the life and work of Arvo Pärt, considering the anti-religious context from which he emerged. However, a close examination of the composer’s music diaries, as well as interviews conducted with Arvo and Nora Pärt, brings to light not only striking aspects of Pärt’s personal relationship with the NC Creed and with creedal statements in general, but also the potential role of this document in Pärt’s creative compositional process.