Mysticism and music 10: Arvo Pärt and St. Silouan the Athonite (three videos)

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The closing of paradise, and the placing of the cherubim with the burning sword to prevent [Adam’s] entrance… are also realities encountered inwardly by each soul.

— from St. Simeon Metaphrastis’ Paraphrase of the Homilies of St. Makarios of Egypt (Philokalia, Vol. III)

(The Arvo Pärt Centre chapel in Laulasmaa, Estonia)

Among contemporary composers, in whose music mystical impulses are dominant and heartfelt, Arvo Pärt is especially of note. He is an Estonian and a convert to the Orthodox Church, and the rich spiritual heritage of the latter has influenced much of his work. One can read the Arvo Pärt Centre’s biography of the composer by clicking here. With my previous post in mind, it seemed like an apt time to do a music-related post on Pärt, given his great love for St. Silouan the Athonite and his disciple/biographer, St. Sophrony of Essex (who figured so prominently in my former article). Indeed, the Greek-style chapel at the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, a village in Estonia, is dedicated to the two saints. In particular, two pieces by Pärt came to my mind because they are based on the writings of St. Silouan.

The first text is “Adam’s Lament,” which I have presented in two video versions below. The first version is sung in English and has subtitles, as well. It was recorded in 2014 at the Sacred Heart Parish Center at Notre Dame in Indiana. The second version is sung in Ukrainian, in beautiful surroundings. About this composition, the relevant description on the Arvo Pärt Centre website has this to say (it can be found online — along with a recording — by clicking here):

One of the most recent large-scale works by Arvo Pärt, Adam’s Lament is based on the Russian prose text of the same title by the monk Silouan the Athonite (also Saint Silouan of Mount Athos, 1866–1938), taken from his book Staretz Silouan. The book was compiled by Silouan’s disciple, the Archimandrite Sophrony (1896–1993), to whom Pärt has also dedicated this piece. The writings of St Silouan have been a source of inspiration for the composer for decades. Through this poetic text in which Adam laments his betrayal of his Creator and having lost the love of God and Paradise, Pärt speaks about Adam as the forefather of all people.

Arvo Pärt: “For the holy man Silouan of Mount Athos, the name Adam is like a collective term which comprises humankind in its entirety and each individual person alike, irrespective of time, epochs, social strata and confession. But who is this banished Adam? We could say that he is all of us who bear his legacy. And this “Total Adam” has been suffering and lamenting for thousands of years on earth. Adam himself, our primal father, foresaw the human tragedy and experienced it as his personal guilt. He has suffered all human cataclysms, unto the depths of despair.“ (CD Adam’s Lament (ECM, 2012) booklet)

The pervading theme in St Silouan’s writings, love and humility, has also influenced Arvo Pärt’s sense of the world, and we could say that this composition has become one of his main works. The composer had carried its idea in his mind since the late 1980s. It is also significant that the world premiere of Adam’s Lament took place in Turkey, the intersection of three monotheist religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The work was commissioned by the two Capitals of Culture, Istanbul 2010 and Tallinn 2011, and the event was a joint performance for these two cities. The premiere took place on 7 June 2010 in Istanbul’s Hagia Irene concert hall within the former cathedral. The performers included the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the vocal ensemble Vox Clamantis and the chamber setting of the Borusan Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, who was awarded a Grammy Award in 2014 for Best Choral Performance for the CD of the first recording of Adam’s Lament (ECM).

Most of the vocal part consists of the text by Silouan as the narrator, mainly performed by the mixed choir. This forms a frame around the central element of the composition, Adam’s monologue, performed by male voices – a lament, a silent prayer, filled with anguish. As in many of Pärt’s other compositions, here too the structure of the text has dictated the course of music down to the tiniest details. Punctuation marks, the number of syllables and word emphasis all play an important role in this tintinnabuli-composition.

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The second piece is “Silouan’s Song,” an instrumental work based on the opening sentence of St Silouan’s collected writings: “My soul yearns after the Lord.” Again, I present the description found on the Arvo Pärt Centre website (found here, with a recording attached):

Silouan’s Song is one of Pärt’s instrumental works based on a religious text in Russian. The text was written by St. Silouan (1866–1938), a Russian monk from Mount Athos, whose other text became the basis of one of Pärt’s most important works in recent years, Adam’s Lament. Silouan’s thoughts have been compiled and published as a book by his spiritual son, the Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov, 1896–1993), with whom the composer has also had personal contact. The work composed for string orchestra, with the subtitle My soul yearns after the Lord…, was also dedicated to the Archimandrite Sophrony, founder of the Monastery of St John the Baptist, in Essex, England.

The music, both the melody and rhythm, is based on a text. This is characteristic of Pärt's tintinnabuli works, so that this music could also be sung. The message of this sincere poetic text is conveyed using extremely ascetic and reduced sound.

Silouan’s Song premiered in Rättvik, Sweden in July 1991 at the “Music at Lake Siljan” Festival, where Arvo Pärt was the festival composer that year. Another version, for eight cellos, was completed in 2012.

The version below is that of the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, directed by Hugo Ticciati. The short introduction to the video includes this insightful statement by Jeremy Grimshaw: “Few composers shape their works according to their personal religious philosophy as deeply and poignantly as Arvo Pärt does, and within his oeuvre, few pieces can be found that carry as heavy a spiritual weight as Silouan's Song. Pärt's treatment of religious topics is never a mere acknowledgment of a long-standing musical tradition, or an objective experiment within a church-derived musical form. The intensity of a work such as Silouan's Song is not a musical construction, but a very personal expression of faith.”