Vancouver Chamber Choir presents expansive ode to Estonian composer Arvo Pärt
Live October 28 and 29 concerts survey works that range from the melancholic to the dramatic and even playful
Vancouver Chamber Choir conductor Kari Turunen. Photo by Diamond’s Edge Photography
Finally taking the stage for live performances again, the Vancouver Chamber Choir is marking its return with a sweeping ode to celebrated Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.
Having already sold out its October 29 concert, the choir has added a second matinée on Thursday, October 28 at 11 am for the concert simply called Pärt, at Pacific Spirit United Church.
Both shows pay tribute to the most-performed classical composer of the last decade. Vancouver Chamber Choir artistic director Kari Turunen conducts, with Christina Hutten playing organ.
Sometimes described as being influenced by medieval music or Gregorian chant, Pärt’s idiosynchratic minimalistic style ultimately has a distinct voice all its own.
Many of Pärt’s most beloved works are choral pieces, with the Vancouver Chamber Choir performance bringing to life a range of compositions created between 1976 and 2003—inviting the listener to enjoy a soundscape of his evolving musical approach.
This program forms a retrospective of choral works from almost three decades, from the very early An den Wassern to key early-2000s compositions, such as Salve Regina.
In Pärt’s music, where time so often stands still and the music seems to look back over the centuries, speaking of an evolution feels a little out of place. Yet change has certainly happened over the past 30 years, in terms of sonority, drama, and even humour (listen to this program’s playful Which Was the Son of …).
The throughlines over the years, though, are the silences, the inherent sadness, the gentleness, and the humanity.
Much of that mood derives from the turbulent political and historical forces that surrounded him, coming of age as an artist in a country that belonged to the Soviet Union, where societal control extended to classical music. Still, Pärt forged ahead with new approaches, most notably the style he called tintinnabuli (“small bells”), a unique fusion of Gregorian chant, medieval music, harmonic simplicity, and a deep feeling of mysticism and spirituality.
You can buy tickets here, with in-person attendance subject to provincial restrictions on masking, audience capacity and vaccination status.
This concert will also be recorded to video for release on VANCC DIGITAL approximately one week after the date of performance.
Post sponsored by the Vancouver Chamber Choir