Arvo Pärt is probably best described as a touchstone composer of the 20th Century. His work has shaped a branch of minimalist composition both for composers and dedicated listeners.
Where other composers sought complexity and lush textures, Pärt turned to the unified beauty of Gregorian chant and monophonic composition in the 1970s, and thus inspired Tintinnabuli from the Latin tintinnaulum meaning, "a bell."
"Tintinnabulation is an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers – in my life, my music, my work. In my dark hours, I have the certain feeling that everything outside this one thing has no meaning. The complex and many-faceted only confuses me, and I must search for unity. What is it, this one thing, and how do I find my way to it? Traces of this perfect thing appear in many guises – and everything that is unimportant falls away. Tintinnabulation is like this. . . . The three notes of a triad are like bells. And that is why I call it tintinnabulation." Estonian composer Arvo Pärt
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And on that most lovely note, Happy Birthday, Mr. Pärt!