Today, at the age of 99, the brilliant and beloved Estonian composer Ester Mägi (10 Jan 1922 – 14 May 2021), whose quietly powerful music has touched many hearts, has left us. Clear, restrained, intimate, at the same time powerful and gentle – these words relate equally to her work and personality.
Thinking about his music theory teacher and long-cherished colleague, Arvo Pärt has expressed high regard for Mägi’s work: “I have great affinity with her musical sensibility.”
The Arvo Pärt Centre also remembers Ester Mägi as a legendary Laulasmaa native who, since the 1960s, spent many of her summers here composing new music. She always found inspiration from the shore and the natural surroundings at Laulasmaa, saying: “Look out of any window and it is like looking at a painting.”
Thank you, Ester Mägi, for the happy and cordial meetings and, of course, for all the music!
Arvo Pärt Centre and Arvo and Nora Pärt