Arvo Pärt
Wallfahrtslied / Pilgrims' Song
Duration: 9'
Dedication: in memory of Grigori Kromanov
Solos:
tenor or baritone
Instrumentation details:
1st violin
2nd violin
viola
violoncello
Pärt - Wallfahrtslied / Pilgrims' Song for tenor or baritone and string quartet
Translation, reprints and more
Arvo Pärt
Pärt: Wallfahrtslied (Pilgrims' Song) for tenor or baritone and string quartet
Available digitally
Orchestration: for tenor or baritone and string quartet
Type: Partitur und Stimmen
Language: Deutsch
Audio preview
Work introduction
When my friend Grigori Kromanov, the Estonian film and stage director, died in July 1984, it was like a bolt from the blue. Suddenly an invisible rift had opened up between us – with me still on the side of time and him already in the sphere of timelessness.
My Pilgrims’ Song is an attempt to overcome this insurmountable gap through a gentle touch, a greeting. I wanted the two worlds, Here and There, to merge in the music, as contrasting layers – that was the origin of the work.
On the one side, there is the dynamism and mobility of the orchestra – and on the other, the static quality of the men’s voices, reduced to a single pitch, with the serenity of a mountain.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…
Arvo Pärt