Arvo Pärt Quotes

Arvo Pärt was born in Paide, Järva County, Estonia. He is an Estonian composer of classical and sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-invented compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music is in part inspired by Gregorian chant. As of 2013, Pärt has been the most performed contemporary composer in the world for three years in a row. As a student, he produced music for film and the stage. During the 1950s, he also completed his first vocal composition, the cantata Meie aed for children's choir and orchestra. He graduated in 1963. From 1957 to 1967, he worked as a sound producer for Estonian radio. In 1980, after a prolonged struggle with Soviet officials, he was allowed to emigrate with his wife and their two sons. He lived first in Vienna, where he took Austrian citizenship and then relocated to Berlin, Germany, in 1981. He speaks fluent German and has German citizenship as a result of living in Germany since 1981.