Arvo Part (born in Estonia in 1935) composed Magnificat in 1989. A setting of the Latin Magnificat text, it is scored a cappella for mixed choir: soprano solo, sopranos I and II, alto, and tenor and bass divisi. It lasts approximately seven minutes. Since the late 1970s, Part has worked in a minimalist style that employs a self-made compositional technique called tintinnabuli, of which Magnificat is an excellent example. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from Gregorian chant. Arvo Part’s wife, Nora, has said of his music, “The concept of tintinnabuli was born from a deeply rooted desire for an extremely reduced sound world which could not be measured, as it were, in kilometres, or even metres, but only in millimetres….By the end the listening, attention is utterly focused. At the point after the music has faded away it is particularly remarkable to hear your breath, your heartbeat, the lighting or the air conditioning system, for example.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk1DeVJHiqk&feature=related[/youtube]
And here is an interview where Bjork sits down with Arvo for the BBC program Modern Minimalists:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pDjT1UNT3s&feature=related[/youtube]
