Characteristics of the Compositional Process in Arvo Pärt’s Tintinnabuli Technique

Abstract

Many of Pärt’s compositions in tintinnabuli technique are based on structural ideas which manifest themselves in a characteristic specification of common rules, very often in connection with a given text. As these rules remain valid for the whole or part of a composition, it follows that no details arising from them can be altered. Thus, the first step of the compositional process is to find a proper set of rules, very often in accordance with the formal structure of a given text, that guarantees satisfactory results at every moment. As the sketches for the Te Deum exemplarily reveal, this means that Pärt tries out different sets of rules and abandons them immediately if they are not suitable. Another peculiarity is that the compositional process does not end with the first performance but is a work in progress leading to many revisions in order to find the perfectly sounding formulation of the basic structural ideas.