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The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Performs Pärt’s Fratres on US Tour

Jan. 02, 2018

The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Performs Pärt’s <em>Fratres</em> on US Tour

From January 25 - February 7, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ENSO) embarks on its 2018 US tour with a program that features Arvo Pärt’s celebrated work, Fratres.

Composed in 1977 for a variable group of cellos (4, 8, or 12), the 11-minute work was dedicated to the cello section of the Berlin Philharmonic and premiered at the 1982 Berliner Festspiel. Pärt subsequently revised Fratres creating a version for violin, string orchestra and percussion, which the ENSO features in programs on its upcoming tour. The concerts will be conducted by Neeme Järvi and Arvo Volmer, ENSO’s current and former principal conductors, respectively, as the tour travels to Florida, Iowa, Michigan, and California.

Written in Pärt's own Tintinnabuli-style, Fratres allows many different settings because it is not bound to a specific timbre. Pärt notes, “The highest virtue of music, for me, lies outside of its mere sound. The particular timbre of an instrument is part of the music, but it is not the most important element. If it were, I would be surrendering to the essence of the music. Music must exist of itself … two, three notes … the essence must be there, independent of the instruments.”



(Arvo Part’s Fratres/Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin/Simon Halsey, conductor/Daniel Hope, violin

Arvo Pärt

Fratres (1977/1992)

version for violin, string orchestra and percussion

11’

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