Music often expresses what words cannot. But sometimes it is precisely the silence – suspended between notes – that reveals the deepest emotions. It is within this fragile space that Giya Kancheli, the Georgian master of melancholy, and Arvo Pärt, apostle of spiritual simplicity, find their voice.
Kancheli’s Amao Omi – literally ‘senseless war’ – evokes a world adrift, searching for meaning. Fragments of text, detached from their original context, drift like voices from a forgotten time. Abrupt shifts and a masterful use of silence offer a striking reflection on the absurd and tragic nature of human conflict. A musical manifesto in which the deep human longing for connection and understanding resonates in every note.
With Miserere, Pärt invites us into an intimate, almost sacred plea for mercy. His music moves between whisper and storm, tension and release. Each silence carries light, each crescendo a path toward inner elevation. Until all returns to the essential: calm, clarity, peace.
programme
Giya Kancheli
Amao Omi
Johann Sebastian Bach
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 (arr. Kebyart)
Arvo Pärt
Miserere
CONCERT WITHOUT INTERMISSION (75')
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Vocal Fabric video
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Bach x Kebyart
Discover Kebyart in a beautiful take on Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor – arranged for saxophone quartet.
listenWho was Giya Kancheli?
A pioneering Georgian composer, whose music combined stillness and beauty with expressive outbursts. Read the article by Guy Rickards in The Guardian.
read articleHoly minimalism mix
A two-hour selection of the late 20th Century composers who harnessed the blossoming new style of minimalist and neo-romantic music, infusing their work with mystic or religious themes. Featuring sounds from Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli and others.
listen to NTS-playlistArte.Tv
Estonian composer Arvo Pärt is the most performed living composer in the world. His music, deeply infused with spiritual and religious depth, resonates with audiences across the globe. A master of minimalist expression, Pärt has inspired renowned filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog and Terrence Malick. Discover more in the short documentary Arvo Pärt: Composing with Silence in Estonia.
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