Alleluia-Tropus

Alleluia-Tropus was composed on the Church Slavonic text of Orthodox liturgy, the troparion of St. Nicholas of Myra. Arvo Pärt had occupied himself with the life and work of St. Nicholas for many years. His first expression of this interest was his 1998 choral work Triodion. Pärt was invited to compose a new piece by the festival Le Voci dell’Anima in Bari, Italy, where St. Nicholas’ relics lie. It is one of the world’s major destinations of pilgrims. Composed for vocal ensemble or mixed choir and eight cellos, Alleluia-Tropus premiered as part of the festival programme in Bari Cathedral in December 2008, performed by Vox Clamantis and Cello8ctet Amsterdam.

Arvo Pärt: “I had already used the English trope of St. Nicholas in my piece Triodion…

Alleluia-Tropus was composed on the Church Slavonic text of Orthodox liturgy, the troparion of St. Nicholas of Myra. Arvo Pärt had occupied himself with the life and work of St. Nicholas for many years. His first expression of this interest was his 1998 choral work Triodion. Pärt was invited to compose a new piece by the festival Le Voci dell’Anima in Bari, Italy, where St. Nicholas’ relics lie. It is one of the world’s major destinations of pilgrims. Composed for vocal ensemble or mixed choir and eight cellos, Alleluia-Tropus premiered as part of the festival programme in Bari Cathedral in December 2008, performed by Vox Clamantis and Cello8ctet Amsterdam.

Arvo Pärt: “I had already used the English trope of St. Nicholas in my piece Triodion. Apparently, my work this time was influenced by the Church Slavonic language which I chose, with all its special associations and its hint of the archaic. The parallel fifths, fourths and thirds, the structure’s simple and elementary form, the refrain returning over and over – all of that is intended to convey a happy affinity with past epochs, the time of Nicholas.

The refrain – the Alleluia itself – frames the trope and repeatedly interrupts the flux before it begins to move again. The refrain is based on a simple, elementary harmonic progression: tonic (T), subdominant (S), dominant (D), which shows different sides at every repetition, like a cube – TSDT, SDTS, DTSD, TSDT. The circulatory repetition of the Alleluia has the effect of a temporal hub, practically neutralising our perception of time, thus emphasising the feeling of timelessness.”