Tintinnabuli

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For other uses, see Tintinnabulum (disambiguation).

Tintinnabuli (singular. tintinnabulum; from the Latin tintinnabulum, "a bell") is a
compositional style created by the Estonian composer Arvo Prt, introduced in his Fr
Alina(1976), and used again in Spiegel im Spiegel (1978). This simple style was influenced
by the composer's mystical experiences with chant music. Musically, Prt's tintinnabular
music is characterized by two types of voice, the first of which (dubbed the "tintinnabular
voice") arpeggiates the tonic triad, and the second of which moves diatonically in stepwise
motion.[1] The works often have a slow and meditative tempo, and a minimalist approach to
both notation and performance. Prt's compositional approach has expanded somewhat in
the years since 1970, but the overall effect remains largely the same.
Contents
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1Prt on his style

2References

3Further reading

4External links

Prt on his style[edit]

"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."[2]

"I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism
can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the
listener." from the essay White Light by Hermann Conen, as translated into English
by Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart (found in the liner notes of the ECM release of Alina).
[citation needed]

"Tintinnabuli is the mathematically exact connection from one line to

another.....tintinnabuli is the rule where the melody and the accompaniment
[accompanying voice]...is one. One plus one, it is one it is not two. This is the secret
of this technique." from a conversation between Arvo Prt and Antony Pitts recorded
for BBC Radio 3 at theRoyal Academy of Music in London on 29 March 2000, as
printed in the liner notes of the Naxos Records release of Passio.[citation needed]