Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten
Encyclopedia
Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten is a short canon
in A minor
, written in 1977 by the Estonia
n composer Arvo Pärt
for string orchestra and bell. The work is an early example of Pärt's tintinnabuli
style, which he based on his reactions to early chant
music. Its appeal is often ascribed to its relative simplicity; a single melodic motif dominates and it both begins and ends with scored silence. However, as the critic Ivan Hewett CBE
observes, while it "may be simple in concept...the concept produces a tangle of lines which is hard for the ear to unravel. And even where the music really is simple in its audible features, the expressive import of those features is anything but." A typical performance lasts about six and a half minutes.
The cantus was composed as an elegy
to mourn the December 1976 death of the English composer Benjamin Britten
. Pärt greatly admired Britten, whom he described as possessing the "unusual purity" that he himself sought as a composer. Pärt viewed the Englishman as a kindred spirit; however, he only gained access to the latter's music in 1980, after emigrating from Soviet
Estonia to Austria, four years after Britten had died. When Britten died, Pärt felt that he had lost hope of meeting the only contemporary composer whose musical outlook, he believed, resembled his own.
While Pärt is known primarily for his religious music, Cantus is a fully secular work, in that it forms a spare lament to a fellow composer not based on biblical texts. It is perhaps Pärt's most popular piece, and a 1997 recording by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra
conducted by Tamas Benedekand has been widely distributed. Due to its evocative and cinematic feel, the piece has been used extensively as background accompaniment in both film and television documentaries.
and bells (only a single chime is used, on the pitch A
, the tonal centre
of the piece). Cantus is an example of Pärt's tintinnabuli
style, using only the pitches of a single A minor
scale
. This work is based on a very simple idea, a descending A minor scale, and is in the form of a prolation canon
, an old technique which Pärt also uses in the work Festina Lente
(Hurry slowly). It is in 6/4 meter
and alternates long and short notes.
Pärt has said of "tintinnabulation": "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. Here I am alone with silence. I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence, comforts me."
Each part except the viola is split into two, with one playing notes from the A minor scale, and the other playing only notes from an A minor chord (i.e., A–C–E). These choices have a definite symbolism for Pärt. The latter "always signifies the subjective world, the daily egoistic life of sin and suffering, [the former] meanwhile, is the objective realm of forgiveness." For Pärt, there is only an apparent dualism here; he believes that "all is one." Music is very good at demonstrating the combining disparate elements to make something greater than the sum of the parts–this music seems to exemplify the principle.
The A natural minor
scale has some historical connections. Before major and minor scales became prevalent in Western
art music
, music, especially the early liturgical music
that has been so influential on Pärt, used a system of modes. These modes were known to the ancient Greeks, and each was said to have a specific character which could strongly affect the mind. The church modes are formed by using the notes of the C major
scale (i.e., the white keys on a piano) but starting at different notes in each mode. A scale of A with no black keys is in the Aeolian mode. Since all natural minor scales derive from the white keys on the piano played from A to A, in choosing the A minor scale Pärt is acknowledging his debt to early church music, or at least affirming his affinity with it.
is struck three times very quietly (pianissimo), with 12 beats between the strikes and gap of 18 beats between the groups of three. This bell tells of the death of Britten—it is the funeral bell. It continues to be struck in groups of three widely spaced intervals for most of the piece, fading out for a time in the last 21 bars, only to reappear at the last. After the bell has struck there is a brief pause for three beats of silence, and then the first violin
s begin setting the pattern which the rest of the ensemble will follow at slower speeds. Half of the first violins begin playing the descending A minor scale, playing first one note from the very top of their range, then returning to the beginning and playing two notes, and then three and four and so on. The other half of the violins play notes from an A minor chord
. These notes start a fourth lower and drop in pitch only when it is over run by the first. This creates a swirling effect of increasing tension which is relieved by dropping the note. They begin playing very quietly (pianississimo) but gradually over the piece build up until they are playing very loudly (fortississimo).
The second violins play exactly the same but an octave lower and at half the speed, which means they play 6 beats (one bar) of silence to begin, and appear to enter at the beginning of the second bar. Then the viola
s, which are the only voice not doubled, join in at quarter speed and another octave lower, the cello
s at one eighth, and finally the contrabass
es as one sixteenth. The basses are then playing each long note for 32 beats, and each short note for 16, meaning that the piece requires enormous concentration.
After an initial phase which feels unstable and off center, perhaps even off key at times, the piece settles down, and as the sequences of notes begin to grow longer the various rhythms and pulses become more evident. Cantus has a kaleidoscopic feel at times, but once it becomes established there is a definite questing downwards, with long culminating string chords making a final descent into silence.
At bar 65 the first violins hit middle C
, and when they do they cease playing the A minor scale and simply play C continuously until the end of the piece (i.e., for more than 250 beats). Eleven bars later the second violins hit a low A and play that continuously. Similarly the other voices gradually find the note that they have been seeking and once reached, they play it continuously until the end. The last to lock into place are the contrabasses which alight on a low A in bar 103. At this stage the whole ensemble is playing an A minor chord very very loudly, and this continues for five bars, then on the second beat of the last bar they suddenly stop. At that moment the bell is struck very quietly (pianissimo) so that the striking itself is not heard, but only the reverberations as it dies away. As the final bell toll reverberates, with all other instruments silent, the overtone
s of the bell become prominently audible — in particular, the fourth overtone (fifth partial), which is the note C-sharp, i.e., the major third of the fundamental pitch (A) of the entire piece. This creates a striking effect, as the entire piece is set in the key of A minor, so that in the dying echoes of the final bell, the last thing the listener hears is actually an A major chord contained within the overtones of the bell. This evokes the common Renaissance and Baroque technique called the "Picardy third
", in which a piece set in a minor mode or key nonetheless ends on a major chord, evoking a ray of light piercing through the clouds, and suggesting hope, resurrection, or redemption. Here, however, the effect is supremely subtle, because it arises solely from the overtones of a single strike of the bell, rather than from separate instruments or voices.
, suggests that "how we live depends on our relationship with death: how we make music depends on our relationship to silence." It is significant that the piece begins and ends with silence—that the silence is written in the score. What this means is that although the various instruments appear to enter progressively, they are actually "playing" right from the start. This silence creates a frame around the piece and can be seen as having a religious or spiritual significance. It suggests that we come from silence, and return to silence; it reminds us that before we were born and after we die we are silent with respect to this world.
Speaking on his reaction to Britten's death, Pärt admitted,
Canon (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...
in A minor
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonic minor scale raises the G to G...
, written in 1977 by the Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n composer Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
for string orchestra and bell. The work is an early example of Pärt's tintinnabuli
Tintinnabuli
Tintinnabuli is a compositional style created by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. He first introduced this new style in two works: Für Alina and Spiegel Im Spiegel . This simple style was influenced by the composer's mystical experiences with chant music...
style, which he based on his reactions to early chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
music. Its appeal is often ascribed to its relative simplicity; a single melodic motif dominates and it both begins and ends with scored silence. However, as the critic Ivan Hewett CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
observes, while it "may be simple in concept...the concept produces a tangle of lines which is hard for the ear to unravel. And even where the music really is simple in its audible features, the expressive import of those features is anything but." A typical performance lasts about six and a half minutes.
The cantus was composed as an elegy
Threnody
A threnody is a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. The term originates from the Greek word threnoidia, from threnos + oide ; ultimately, from the Proto-Indo-European root wed- that is also the precursor of such words as "ode", "tragedy", "comedy",...
to mourn the December 1976 death of the English composer Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
. Pärt greatly admired Britten, whom he described as possessing the "unusual purity" that he himself sought as a composer. Pärt viewed the Englishman as a kindred spirit; however, he only gained access to the latter's music in 1980, after emigrating from Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Estonia to Austria, four years after Britten had died. When Britten died, Pärt felt that he had lost hope of meeting the only contemporary composer whose musical outlook, he believed, resembled his own.
While Pärt is known primarily for his religious music, Cantus is a fully secular work, in that it forms a spare lament to a fellow composer not based on biblical texts. It is perhaps Pärt's most popular piece, and a 1997 recording by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra
Hungarian State Opera House
The Hungarian State Opera House is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. It is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886.-History:...
conducted by Tamas Benedekand has been widely distributed. Due to its evocative and cinematic feel, the piece has been used extensively as background accompaniment in both film and television documentaries.
Overview
The cantus is scored for string orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
and bells (only a single chime is used, on the pitch A
A (musical note)
La or A is the sixth note of the solfège. "A" is generally used as a standard for tuning. When the orchestra tunes, the oboe plays an "A" and the rest of the instruments tune to match that pitch. Every string instrument in the orchestra has an A string, from which each player can tune the rest of...
, the tonal centre
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
of the piece). Cantus is an example of Pärt's tintinnabuli
Tintinnabuli
Tintinnabuli is a compositional style created by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. He first introduced this new style in two works: Für Alina and Spiegel Im Spiegel . This simple style was influenced by the composer's mystical experiences with chant music...
style, using only the pitches of a single A minor
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonic minor scale raises the G to G...
scale
Musical scale
In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...
. This work is based on a very simple idea, a descending A minor scale, and is in the form of a prolation canon
Prolation canon
In music, a prolation canon or mensuration canon is a type of canon, a musical composition wherein the main melody is accompanied by one or more imitations of that melody in other voices. Not only do the voices sing or play the same melody, they do so at different speeds...
, an old technique which Pärt also uses in the work Festina Lente
Festina lente
Festina lente or σπεῦδε βραδέως is a classical adage and oxymoron meaning "make haste slowly" or "more haste, less speed"...
(Hurry slowly). It is in 6/4 meter
Meter (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
and alternates long and short notes.
Each part except the viola is split into two, with one playing notes from the A minor scale, and the other playing only notes from an A minor chord (i.e., A–C–E). These choices have a definite symbolism for Pärt. The latter "always signifies the subjective world, the daily egoistic life of sin and suffering, [the former] meanwhile, is the objective realm of forgiveness." For Pärt, there is only an apparent dualism here; he believes that "all is one." Music is very good at demonstrating the combining disparate elements to make something greater than the sum of the parts–this music seems to exemplify the principle.
The A natural minor
Aeolian mode
The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale called the natural minor scale.The word "Aeolian" in the music theory of ancient Greece was an alternative name for what Aristoxenus called the Low Lydian tonos , nine semitones...
scale has some historical connections. Before major and minor scales became prevalent in Western
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
art music
Art music
Art music is an umbrella term used to refer to musical traditions implying advanced structural and theoretical considerations and a written musical tradition...
, music, especially the early liturgical music
Liturgical music
Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service , the Lutheran Divine Service, the Orthodox liturgy and other Christian services...
that has been so influential on Pärt, used a system of modes. These modes were known to the ancient Greeks, and each was said to have a specific character which could strongly affect the mind. The church modes are formed by using the notes of the C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
scale (i.e., the white keys on a piano) but starting at different notes in each mode. A scale of A with no black keys is in the Aeolian mode. Since all natural minor scales derive from the white keys on the piano played from A to A, in choosing the A minor scale Pärt is acknowledging his debt to early church music, or at least affirming his affinity with it.
Score
After the three beats of silence that open the score, a tubular bellTubular bell
Tubular bells are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is from C4-F5, though many professional instruments reach G5 . Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are a smaller...
is struck three times very quietly (pianissimo), with 12 beats between the strikes and gap of 18 beats between the groups of three. This bell tells of the death of Britten—it is the funeral bell. It continues to be struck in groups of three widely spaced intervals for most of the piece, fading out for a time in the last 21 bars, only to reappear at the last. After the bell has struck there is a brief pause for three beats of silence, and then the first violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s begin setting the pattern which the rest of the ensemble will follow at slower speeds. Half of the first violins begin playing the descending A minor scale, playing first one note from the very top of their range, then returning to the beginning and playing two notes, and then three and four and so on. The other half of the violins play notes from an A minor chord
Minor chord
In music theory, a minor chord is a chord having a root, a minor third, and a perfect fifth.When a chord has these three notes alone, it is called a minor triad....
. These notes start a fourth lower and drop in pitch only when it is over run by the first. This creates a swirling effect of increasing tension which is relieved by dropping the note. They begin playing very quietly (pianississimo) but gradually over the piece build up until they are playing very loudly (fortississimo).
The second violins play exactly the same but an octave lower and at half the speed, which means they play 6 beats (one bar) of silence to begin, and appear to enter at the beginning of the second bar. Then the viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, which are the only voice not doubled, join in at quarter speed and another octave lower, the cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s at one eighth, and finally the contrabass
Contrabass
Contrabass refers to a musical instrument of very low pitch; generally those pitched one octave below instruments of the bass register...
es as one sixteenth. The basses are then playing each long note for 32 beats, and each short note for 16, meaning that the piece requires enormous concentration.
After an initial phase which feels unstable and off center, perhaps even off key at times, the piece settles down, and as the sequences of notes begin to grow longer the various rhythms and pulses become more evident. Cantus has a kaleidoscopic feel at times, but once it becomes established there is a definite questing downwards, with long culminating string chords making a final descent into silence.
At bar 65 the first violins hit middle C
Middle C
C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale. Its enharmonic is B.-Middle C:Middle C is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard...
, and when they do they cease playing the A minor scale and simply play C continuously until the end of the piece (i.e., for more than 250 beats). Eleven bars later the second violins hit a low A and play that continuously. Similarly the other voices gradually find the note that they have been seeking and once reached, they play it continuously until the end. The last to lock into place are the contrabasses which alight on a low A in bar 103. At this stage the whole ensemble is playing an A minor chord very very loudly, and this continues for five bars, then on the second beat of the last bar they suddenly stop. At that moment the bell is struck very quietly (pianissimo) so that the striking itself is not heard, but only the reverberations as it dies away. As the final bell toll reverberates, with all other instruments silent, the overtone
Overtone
An overtone is any frequency higher than the fundamental frequency of a sound. The fundamental and the overtones together are called partials. Harmonics are partials whose frequencies are whole number multiples of the fundamental These overlapping terms are variously used when discussing the...
s of the bell become prominently audible — in particular, the fourth overtone (fifth partial), which is the note C-sharp, i.e., the major third of the fundamental pitch (A) of the entire piece. This creates a striking effect, as the entire piece is set in the key of A minor, so that in the dying echoes of the final bell, the last thing the listener hears is actually an A major chord contained within the overtones of the bell. This evokes the common Renaissance and Baroque technique called the "Picardy third
Picardy third
A Picardy third is a harmonic device used in European classical music.It refers to the use of a major chord of the tonic at the end of a musical section which is either modal or in a minor key...
", in which a piece set in a minor mode or key nonetheless ends on a major chord, evoking a ray of light piercing through the clouds, and suggesting hope, resurrection, or redemption. Here, however, the effect is supremely subtle, because it arises solely from the overtones of a single strike of the bell, rather than from separate instruments or voices.
Subject matter
The piece is a meditation on death. Pärt's biographer, Paul HillierPaul Hillier
Paul Douglas Hillier is a conductor, music director and baritone. He specializes in early music and contemporary art music, especially that by composers Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford and the Guildhall School of Music, beginning his professional career while a...
, suggests that "how we live depends on our relationship with death: how we make music depends on our relationship to silence." It is significant that the piece begins and ends with silence—that the silence is written in the score. What this means is that although the various instruments appear to enter progressively, they are actually "playing" right from the start. This silence creates a frame around the piece and can be seen as having a religious or spiritual significance. It suggests that we come from silence, and return to silence; it reminds us that before we were born and after we die we are silent with respect to this world.
Speaking on his reaction to Britten's death, Pärt admitted,
- Why did the date of Benjamin Britten's death – December 4, 1976 – touch such a chord in me? During this time I was obviously at the point where I could recognize the magnitude of such a loss. Inexplicable feelings of guilt, more than that even, arose in me. I had just discovered Britten for myself. Just before his death I began to appreciate the unusual purity of his music – I had had the impression of the same kind of purity in the ballads of Guillaume de Machaut. And besides, for a long time I had wanted to meet Britten personally – and now it would not come to that.
Sources and bibliography
- Hillier, PaulPaul HillierPaul Douglas Hillier is a conductor, music director and baritone. He specializes in early music and contemporary art music, especially that by composers Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford and the Guildhall School of Music, beginning his professional career while a...
. Arvo Pärt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-1981-6550-1 - Quinn, Peter. Arvo Pärt, Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten. University of LondonUniversity of London-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, Goldsmiths' College, 1991 - Wallrabenstein, Wolfram. "Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten". Zeitschrift für Musikpädagogik, October 31, 1985, 31. 13-31
External links
- Performance by A Far Cry, Jordan Hall, Boston, MA