Von Angesicht zu Angesicht

Composed in 2005 for soprano, baritone, clarinet, viola and double bass, Von Angesicht zu Angesicht (From Face to Face) is dedicated to the memory of soprano Helle Mustonen (2.10.1950–10.06.2005), the founding member of the early music ensemble Hortus Musicus. It was performed at her commemorative concert in Tallinn’s Dome Church on 2 October 2005.

For this sad event, Pärt chose lines from St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians. These words express an arrival to a place where you cannot turn back from, and where we can see and perceive what we couldn’t experience before. The vocal parts with contrasting timbres embody states of being, one on each side of a border: the baritone, singing phrases that begin with the word ‘now’, and the soprano, sin…

Composed in 2005 for soprano, baritone, clarinet, viola and double bass, Von Angesicht zu Angesicht (From Face to Face) is dedicated to the memory of soprano Helle Mustonen (2.10.1950–10.06.2005), the founding member of the early music ensemble Hortus Musicus. It was performed at her commemorative concert in Tallinn’s Dome Church on 2 October 2005.

For this sad event, Pärt chose lines from St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians. These words express an arrival to a place where you cannot turn back from, and where we can see and perceive what we couldn’t experience before. The vocal parts with contrasting timbres embody states of being, one on each side of a border: the baritone, singing phrases that begin with the word ‘now’, and the soprano, singing the text that begins with the word ‘then’.