Arvo Pärt’s Magnificat: An Inside Story

Arvo Pärt, one of the world’s most famous living composers, was born and raised in Estonia. Characterized as “mystic minimalism,” Pärt’s compositional style is unique, otherworldly. However, the religious themes of his music led to censorship and suppression during the long years that his country was under Soviet domination.

Magnificat, which you can experience at Christmas with the Chorale, is a sublime example of Pärt’s choral mastery. And here at the Santa Cruz Chorale we have the inside story of how it came to be. It’s a tale from long ago, and here to tell it is an eyewitness to it all, Karen Gordon, wife of Artistic Director Christian Grube:

 “One day in the early 80s, when Christian was director of his boys’ choir in Berlin (the State and Cathedral Choir), a soft-spoken gentleman brought his young son to the office to audition for the choir.  The boy passed with flying colors, and Christian and the father began discussing the rehearsal schedule and time commitment required of choir members.

Christian explained that, in addition to rehearsals three afternoons a week, there were occasional weekend retreats, several concerts, a concert tour each year, and services once a month at the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, when the bishop held services there.  But when the father realized how rigorous the schedule would be, he said he was afraid it might be too much for his boy, and Arvo Pärt and his son left Christian’s office rather dejected.

In 1985, Christian’s boys’ choir won first place in the German National Choral Competition, and the prize for the winning choir was a composition to be commissioned by a composer of the director’s choice, which his choir would premiere at the next German National Choral Competition.

Christian asked Arvo Pärt if he would agree to be the composer, and the work he composed for and dedicated to Christian Grube and the Staats- und Domchor, Berlin, is now one of Pärt’s most performed pieces—the Magnificat. While he was putting the finishing touches on the piece, Pärt asked if he and his wife could attend some of Christian’s rehearsals so he could hear how it sounded so far.  He was always quite pleased with what he heard, but he did several times suggest that the piece should be sung “just a little bit slower,” or “perhaps a bit softer.” Christian and Pärt experimented with having different parts sung by a soloist or a solo group, etc., and in this way, Christian fine-tuned the choir until the sound was as Pärt imagined it.

The “Magnificat” was completed in 1989, and in 1990 Christian conducted the premiere performance in Stuttgart with his Staats- und Domchor.”
Now, in Santa Cruz, you can hear Arvo Pärt’s Magnificat with the conductor who premiered it, ascending to the heights in beautiful Holy Cross Church.

Christmas with the Chorale