Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer who was born in 1935. He writes slow, quiet music made from few notes. For more than ten years, he has been at or near the top of the yearly count of the most performed living composers in the world. The best first piece for a child is “Spiegel im Spiegel,” about ten minutes of calm for a piano and one string instrument.
Quick facts
- Born: 1935, in Paide, Estonia
- Lives: in Estonia
- Era: Contemporary
- Plays: piano
- Known for: “Spiegel im Spiegel,” “Für Alina,” Fratres, Tabula Rasa, and music for choirs
The life in short
Pärt was born in Paide, a small town in the middle of Estonia. He moved to the town of Rakvere as a young boy and grew up there. A statue of a boy with a bicycle stands in Rakvere in his honor.
He went to music school from the age of seven and was writing his own pieces by his early teens. He studied composing in Tallinn, the capital, and worked for Estonian Radio as a sound engineer.
Estonia was then part of the Soviet Union. In the 1960s, Pärt wrote bold, modern pieces and became a leading name in new Soviet music. The authorities did not approve of all of it, and some of his work was banned.
Then he went quiet. For about eight years, he wrote little. He studied the church music of the Middle Ages and looked for a new way to write.
In 1976, he came back with a short piano piece called “Für Alina.” It was in a new style of his own. He named the style “tintinnabuli,” from the Latin word for little bells.
In 1980, he and his family had to leave the Soviet Union. They went to Vienna and then to Berlin, where they stayed for close to 30 years.
Estonia became independent again in 1991. Pärt moved home for good in 2010. A center that holds his archive stands in the village of Laulasmaa, near Tallinn. He turned 90 in 2025, and concerts around the world marked the year.
What the music sounds like
Tintinnabuli music has two parts that move together. One part plays a tune that moves by step, up or down a scale. The other part plays only the three notes of one chord. Its notes ring around the tune, and that gave the style its name.
There are few notes, and there is a great deal of silence. Pärt has said he found that it is enough when a single note is played with beauty.
Most of his pieces set prayers and other religious words. He is an Orthodox Christian, and faith is at the center of his work.
Pieces to play first
“Spiegel im Spiegel.” The title means “mirror in the mirror.” The piano plays rising groups of three notes, again and again. A violin or cello plays long, slow notes above.
“Für Alina.” A short piano piece. Each hand plays one note at a time, with gaps of silence between. The pianist decides how long to wait.
Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten. A single bell tolls. Each group of string instruments plays the same falling scale at its own speed: slow, slower, and slowest. It ends on one long chord and then silence. It lasts about six minutes.
Fratres. The title means “brothers.” A chain of chords comes around again and again, and a drum and a pair of wooden sticks mark each new round. Pärt made versions for many groups of instruments.
Things to do together
Listen to the silence. Play “Für Alina.” Count the seconds of silence between the notes.
Three notes. On a piano or keyboard, one person plays C, E, and G in any order, with a slow beat. A second person plays a slow scale up and down. That is the idea behind tintinnabuli.
Slow race. Play the Cantus. Three people cross the room at the same time. One walks at a normal pace, one at half that speed, and one slower still. Everyone keeps going until the music stops.
Ring a bell. Ring a bell or tap a glass. Listen until the sound is gone. Count how many seconds it lasts.
Mirror drawing. Fold a sheet of paper in half. Draw on one side while “Spiegel im Spiegel” plays. Then draw the mirror image on the other side.
Print and play
Fill in a composer study notebook page for Pärt. For more composers at work now, read living composers kids can hear today. For more quiet music, see calm classical music for kids at bedtime.
For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.
Sources
Checked in November 2026.
- Arvo Pärt Centre. (n.d.). Biography.
- Goethe-Institut. (n.d.). Arvo Pärt.
- Visit Estonia. (2025). Arvo Pärt: Estonia’s extraordinary composer.
- Wise Music Classical. (n.d.). Arvo Pärt.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.