EN
The most known works of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (*1935) have been written in his individual compositional style called tintinnabuli. The style was formed in 1976 as a result of a significant crisis Pärt had experienced after his last dodecaphonic composition. At that point the composer realized that dodecaphony and other contemporary techniques are no longer inspiring for him and decided search for a new direction for his music. In 1976–1980, after some years of exercising and studying early music, he presented several works, mostly instrumental, introduc-ing a new stylistic quality. The compositions are based on a precise system of regulations which has determined many aspects of Pärt’s musical language. The melodic material is limited to two scales: one diatonic and one ‘triad scale’, the latter having been created on the basis of triad struc-ture. The form has been constructed by using a simple mathematical procedure — a sequence, although some external formal models are also involved. The rhythm is often based on a repetitive scheme which can be interpreted as a reference to a medieval isorythm. It is the very detailed and consequent system of those and others technical principles that make the pieces composed during the early period of tintinnabuli style consistent and recognizable.