Für Lennart in memoriam

Für Lennart in memoriam for string orchestra was composed in the beginning of 2006 at the request of Lennart Meri. The former President of Estonia had wished that music composed by Pärt would be played at his memorial service.

Arvo Pärt and Lennart Meri knew each other from their youth. In the 1960s they were colleagues at Estonian Radio, where Pärt worked in the music department and Meri in radio theatre. Later in life their paths crossed many times, albeit briefly. “I believe now we would be much more similar than at a younger age, certainly,” Pärt has said.

When starting to compose the piece, Pärt’s thoughts turned to the 6th ode of the a cappella choir piece Kanon pokajanen that became the core of the instrumental composition Für Lennart in …

Für Lennart in memoriam for string orchestra was composed in the beginning of 2006 at the request of Lennart Meri. The former President of Estonia had wished that music composed by Pärt would be played at his memorial service.

Arvo Pärt and Lennart Meri knew each other from their youth. In the 1960s they were colleagues at Estonian Radio, where Pärt worked in the music department and Meri in radio theatre. Later in life their paths crossed many times, albeit briefly. “I believe now we would be much more similar than at a younger age, certainly,” Pärt has said.

When starting to compose the piece, Pärt’s thoughts turned to the 6th ode of the a cappella choir piece Kanon pokajanen that became the core of the instrumental composition Für Lennart in memoriam. This beautiful canon prayer in church Slavonic refers to the sea (meri – “sea” in Estonian) as a symbol and is used at funeral services. In the middle section of the composition, Pärt has used a short prayer for the dead by Archimandrite Sophrony (1896–1993).

As is characteristic of many of Pärt’s vocal and some of his instrumental pieces, the text has been set to music considering the accent, the number of syllables in the words and other parameters in order to achieve a speech-like flow and a sense of phrase in the music that leaves space for natural breathing. “These prayers are for everyone, like prayers for the dead, the loved ones and strangers. When writing a piece like that you are like someone’s warden,” says Pärt.

The composition was first performed at Lennart Meri’s funeral service on 26 March 2006, at St Charles’ Church, by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste.