Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa, II

Tabula rasa, concerto for 2 violins (or violin viola), prepared piano string orchestra (1977) I. Ludus: Con moto II. Silentium: Senza moto Adele Anthony, violin Gil Shaham, violin Erik Risberg, prepared piano Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Neeme Järvi Arvo Pärt composed Tabula Rasa in 1977, shortly after emerging from his self-imposed period of intense study and reflection to demonstrate what would become his characteristic musical technique: the so-called tintinnabuli method. The work is thus a prime example of the technique and demonstrates how, even in its early stages, Pärt’s new and innovative musical language was connected indelibly with his sense of musical process and form. One not only hears the tintinnabula system working itself out in this piece, but also gets a clear sense of the aesthetic and spiritual underpinnings of the method and its implications for large-scale musical structure. The work calls for two violin soloists supported