How Arvo Pärt Tintinnabulates

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Music:
- Arvo Pärt: Für Alina (1976), performed by Andrey Surotdinov: • Arvo Pärt -Für Alina. ...
- Arvo Pärt: Credo (1968), performed by Erik Cortés and the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM conducted by Ludwig Carrasco: • Credo, Arvo Pärt
- Arvo Pärt: “O Morgenstern” from Seven Magnificat Antiphons (1988, 1991), performed by the Byrd Ensemble directed by Markdavin Obenza: • Seven Magnificat Antip...
- Arvo Pärt: Da pacem Domine for string quartet (2004/6), performed by the Feguš Quartet: • Arvo Pärt: Da pacem Do...
- Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten (1977), performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France conducted by Kent Nagano: • Arvo Pärt : Cantus in ...
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Contact:
thomas [at] lentovivace.com OR nerdofclassical [at] gmail.com
/ classicalnerd
/ the_classical_nerd
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes, and thus fall under fair use statutes.

[@ClassicalNerd]

*TWO NOTES:* 1) This video was all ready to go _before_ my last video, but it was in false-copyright-claim limbo. Thus, the patrons credits doesn't include *Alice Wyan* or *James Comins,* who I would like to thank for their support. 2) At 5:13, there's a big goof where the sheet music simply didn't render because my computer has gremlins or something. It plays back fine on my file, so I don't know what happened between my hard disk and KZbin, but it's not the kind of thing that warrants a reupload.

[@Drakethatsme]

Not gonna lie, I didn't see this comment and thought no sheet music was a conscious choice - to be honest, I quite liked it.

[@Julius-cd4fc]

Same, it felt quite powerful to just listen

[@rusticagenerica]

" but it's not the kind of thing that warrants a reupload." The video you mentioned is excellent ! Definitely worth a reupload ! please.

[@pawncube2050]

I hate when someone starts tintinnabulating all over the place

[@sabakopernik7637]

sorry i won't do it again 😊

[@gracewenzel]

My favorite part of Tintinnabuli was when Tintin showed up and said “It’s Tintin’ time!” And Tintinnabulated all over everyone

[@ClassicalNerd]

Truly one of the pieces of all time

[@Scriabinfan593]

@@gracewenzel I loved the part where Tintin said " I'm the one who Tintinnabulates" to his concerned wife.

[@a.nobodys.nobody]

That part

[@DerHerrMitR]

When he said "It's tintinnabulatin' time" and started tintinnabulating al over the place....Truly one of the composers of all time.

[@robertrust]

Probably the best explanation of the technique on KZbin right now. It’s worth pointing out that it is actually incredibly difficult composing effectively with the tintinnabuli technique. This is in part due to its close association with texts, which are often used to generate the melody.

[@simonrodriguez4685]

Indeed great and demystifying explanation.

[@simonrodriguez4685]

What must be hard is using it and to not to end up sounding like Pärt...

[@robertrust]

@@simonrodriguez4685 Nobody tries out of fear of sounding derivative, which is stupid excuse. People need to have the courage to imitate genius.

[@signodeinterrogacion8361]

Yep, it's definitely 'in *part* ' alright.

[@simonrodriguez4685]

@@robertrust By people playing the “part” is how things get rusty.

[@idrisbalavakos]

This method reminds me of my earliest writings before I knew a single thing about harmony or counterpoint. It's sounds so beautifully distilled.

[@jimstantinople]

i saw the boston symphony play the cantus for britten when id never heard of it before and its simplicity is gorgeous and heartbreaking. instant favorite piece. i love pärt's distilled consonances

[@Lampredi4]

I am a student of history and I found your channel through your videos on the Mighty 5 when I was reading about Imperial Russian cultural history. I am pretty uneducated when it comes to music, but following your videos for all these years certainly bred in me the desire to learn. I am going through Craig Wright’s listening to music lectures and book now and hoping to attend piano lessons just as soon as I can afford it. Cheers and many thanks

[@silviagrilec3041]

Hi. I have a colleague composer, who studied classical composition. He knows a lot about Arvo Paart’s music, along with other historical eras of western art. If you are interested in music lessons, let me know. Thank you.

[@donna25871]

Paul Hillier is the great interpreter of Part - which makes sense when you consider his great knowledge and experience performing Medieval music.

[@harrisippola9287]

Beautiful, well presented and inspiring analysis, thank you! ❤

[@janmoeyaert1]

Superbly useful video! Thank you.

[@emilianoviolinista]

Great video, I recently discover your channel and just want to say please keep the good work and thank you for sharing.

[@seanriedy]

Great video! We just sang "Da pacem Domine" last semester in choir: such a beautiful and heartbreaking piece. Thanks for making this!

[@smguy7]

I am totally going to try this compositional technique out myself in my electronic music. Thanks!

[@TalesoftheBoatman]

Intriguing, succinct, and well-presented. Thank you for the most engaging KZbin video I've seen in a while.

[@jackcharlesdoublebassist3617]

Brilliant! I love how you didn’t cut off the basses accented bottom C in the Credo score. Very important note in the texture that is always a delight to send

[@arrandan]

This just showed up in my suggested videos, for which I'm grateful. Great explanation, and nicely offset against the little Casio synth/calculator in the background!

[@colbysavary]

Been looking for an explanation of this that allowed to me utilize this technique without copying - this is it! Thanks so much for this!

[@jackdolphy8965]

Just a listener here, whoever informed. Thank you for explaining what the heck AP was doing. I had always thought he just heard stuff like this. No idea he had this construction thing going on. Thank you!!🙏🏼

[@brendaboykin3281]

Thank you, Thomas. Thoroughly enjoyed your excellent presentation. ABSOLUTELY LOVE the verb TINTINABULATE. I'll be using it, purposely, joyously and inaccurately.🌹🌹🌹😎

[@ClassicalNerd]

It's a great word!

[@MTMargraf]

Could you do a video on Ligeti and his Meccanico style?

[@timcollins5349]

Grand C Nerd, you have done it again. Love the shirt btw.

[@ricucci-hillmusic]

Honestly, this video did the most to actually helping me understand what tintinnabulation is. Simple as it is, I've always had some form of difficulty getting it til now. Thank you so much for posting this :)

[@nicholasrussell4557]

The way this came out AFTER I submitted an assignment on Pärt for my theory class is insane

[@scottglasgowmusic]

Thanks for the video! Love Arvo Pärt's music for many years and he is a huge influence on my own music. I don't think you mentioned his "expanding and contracting rhythms". Look at the "Fur Alina" piano piece. It starts with 1 note per bar, then 2, then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 notes then reverses back from 7, 6, 5,4,3,2. He does this rhythm expansion / contraction in his piece "Fratres" too. There is much more going on in this music then seems on first viewing or analysis but your analysis of Tintinabulation is right on. Thanks again for doing this. How about a video on Peteris Vasks, Henrik Gorecki or Erik-sven Tüür? There is also a few American composers needing some analysis.... Michael Torke, Michael Dougherty, Richard Danielpour, Steven Stucky, Aaron Kernis and my own teacher John Corigliano.

[@ClassicalNerd]

My request list is very long [ www.lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html ] so I limit individuals to five votes and *strongly* encourage them to vote for topics already in the pool.

[@scottglasgowmusic]

@@ClassicalNerd Cool. Long list, at least I see Korngold on there. How could Orff be at the bottom? Congrats on your success! I have a channel myself (film music composers and techniques) but if I had people telling me what the subject was or which composer my videos would be on, I would stop making videos right away. It becomes work I don't want to do and distract from my real job as a composer full time. I do mine for fun and extension of my teaching days at UCLA. Good luck! I'll be watching of course.

[@GalenDeGraf]

@@scottglasgowmusic If you're interested in more detail on Arvo Pärt in a video specifically for composers, I've just put that over on my channel.

[@scottglasgowmusic]

@@GalenDeGraf Thanks will check it out. I have however studied his music for a decade and understand what he is doing-- even taught about his music at UCLA. I've also incorporated this style my own music.

[@SuonoReale]

Thank you!

[@syroyid]

Great explanation! Many thanks

[@paulmahoux]

Very nice ! Thank you. 🙏

[@johannesbowman2194]

Love this video. Also Inception at 0:33

[@ClassicalNerd]

*_BWAAAAAAAAAAA_*

[@smashissocool65]

Sounds wizardry enough lol

[@JohnMassari]

Superb video!

[@Pianisimo1875]

Awesome sauce. I find this interesting. I am a composer myself; I feel like using this method or use an inspiration of it, in my music.

[@DarwinIsInCharge]

You are a treasure, reminds me of being in school

[@TheTrueAltoClef]

At first I was skeptical, but this is beautiful

[@gexahedrop8923]

what no one is discussing, though, is that Part sometimes uses different scales for t-voice and m-voice, e. g., in Fratres, which is very nice

[@ClassicalNerd]

Isn't this the point made at 7:17?

[@gexahedrop8923]

@@ClassicalNerd oh true, missed that, thanks

[@paulmccabe2966]

Would love to know more about Arvo Parts' compositions..

[@ClassicalNerd]

Most analysis of his compositions is in figuring out how he's using tintinnabuli, and why.

[@rwalterrust]

Here's a video that goes much more in depth into Part's music: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZDIoqybjJJ_bKM

[@michaelstevens8]

Outstanding Video as Always Thomas. You mentioned that sometimes the M Voice and T Voice are in different keys. Another technique he has used is the M and T Voice in the same key but Different Scales depending on how the T Voice is written. In other words, Monotonal/Polymodal at the same time, which is different than M Voice And T Voice in different keys but same mode, which could be Polytonal/Monomodal. Some of the techniques discussed can also be analyzed as a type of Pandiatonic writing. Thanks.

[@Voiceof7A]

A video about Rued Langgaard, Niels W. Gade or Gérard Grisey would be great

[@ShatteredbyDecease]

Which notes relate to each other in Da pacem Domine? I find it quite hard to spot and see how it works 7:47 even though I get the premise of the earlier explanations.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Good question! Remember that the "T" in "T-voice" stands for "triad"-a very quick way to spot the T-voices are to look at the voices that exclusively play notes of a triad. So this system appears to be violin 1 T+2 from violin 2, and viola T+2 from the cello (ignoring the first viola F).

[@maxgray9919]

Would love to see a video on Henri Tomasi!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: www.lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@seanramsdell4117]

Haven't requested for a while: Classical Music in Cartoons, Classical Music Labels and Classical Music in Cinema/TV

[@ClassicalNerd]

Individuals can only have five votes in the request pool at any given time. You currently have four. I suggest you choose one of the 388 items in the pool already instead of adding a new one: www.lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@cheri238]

❤

[@antjamnow1286]

I'm just here for the Pärty

[@bruitpur]

Would you say the T voice is a bit similar to a drone?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Hmm. They're conceptually related, but not enough to be similar. Drones are often completely independent of whatever other material exists in a piece, and certainly don't alter their pitch/register as cued _by_ other material. But there _is_ a marked consistency to T-voices, and a consonance not dissimilar to the steady sound of a true drone.

[@Sevish]

Always wondered what that word meant, now I know!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Microtonal tintinnabuli soon? 👀

[@vrixphillips]

kinda makes me wonder what would happen if someone applied his methods to non-12tet (like... 19tet or or just temp) music :O

[@stephenweigel]

Jacob Barton’s done it

[@vrixphillips]

@@stephenweigel oh nice! thanks :3

[@smashissocool65]

Is Arvo Part Musical’s Dumbledore?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I humbly submit Leif Segerstam for that role.

[@smashissocool65]

@@ClassicalNerd i had to look up who that is lol

[@smashissocool65]

Who is your favorite living composer

[@ClassicalNerd]

@@smashissocool65 There are so many good ones! If I had to pick, I'd go with Kaija Saariaho.

[@reev9759]

You can't be "richly" deserving of something.

[@adn8099]

Yes you can.

[@ericrakestraw664]

Arvo Pärt's tintinnabuli technique sounds so pure and natural, the way music should be written, because it is based on the overtone series. Compare that to something like set theory which sounds completely random and unpredictable to the ear.

[@ClassicalNerd]

I agree with the point about tintinnabuli sounding very "natural," but that makes me curious about how you hear spectral music, since it uses even purer approximations of the overtone series.

[@LordEelHorse]

Missing sheet music at 5:13 Still, a good demonstration of the technique.

[@ClassicalNerd]

After all these years, I'm really coming to hate iMovie.

[@davepowell7168]

🔔 Nb to self. 3:25

[@a.nobodys.nobody]

Zappa must have loved this stuff. Maybe?

[@rusticagenerica]

Who allowed the use of the Tintinnabulation?

[@ClassicalNerd]

What do you mean by "allowed?"

[@_CaptainCookie]

She tintinn on my tabu until I late

[@antjamnow1286]

Officer: you know why I pulled you over? Your window tint Me: you mean my window tintinnabulation? 😅 Officer: Step out of the car, sir. Are you on any drugs?

[@seanramsdell4117]

I thought you only do dead composers

[@ClassicalNerd]

Notice how this is not a full biography. I do a similar thing in my videos on spectralism and New Complexity: breaking down composition technique while weaving in the amount of biographical detail that is relevant.

[@haldentoyorganist3896]

Now go 180... MAX REGER

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: www.lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@smashissocool65]

Who would you say is the greatest composer without any biased or personal opinions?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I don't think that is possible to determine, as you would have to come up with metrics that are sufficiently unbiased, and I don't think enough of those exist in any art.

[@smashissocool65]

@@ClassicalNerd i see, btw is morton feldman still doing time

[@ClassicalNerd]

@@smashissocool65 he got off with a fine and some community service after the rodent incident

[@smashissocool65]

What would you do if Feldman made a scene inside a fast food joint cause something Boulez related happened or Boulez himself was there, and you were held responsible of Feldman?

[@mpmcd81]

Arvo Part’s music is the ultimate middle finger to Communism. Right up there with Shostakovich 5.

[@foulmercy8095]

Say that word 10 times fast

[@ClassicalNerd]

Oooh, it's kinda fun, actually

[@Liisa3139]

That piece in memory of Benjamin Britten sounds like film music, which in my book is not a good thing. Sorry, but no.

[@screwthishi5thing]

Don't take this comment too seriously but I think you should get some facial hair

[@ClassicalNerd]

Well, watch around-it's come and gone over the years. (Peaking in my old, old Debussy video.)

[@ivankaramasov]

I still find Pärt's music boring

[@samsun216]

Thank you!