Nargen Festival: Pärt & Handel

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Concerto Copenhagen explore new soundscapes in Arvo Pärt's music.

Arvo Pärt's music is in many ways a rebellion against post-war classical music, which, roughly speaking, meant louder, faster, bigger, and more of everything. Pärt's music is anything but that—it is gentle, slow, and insists on repetition and silence. The early music movement, of which Concerto Copenhagen is a leading part, was also created as a rebellion against the classical music scene in post-war Europe and seeks – in many ways like Pärt – originality in simplicity and transparency, humility towards the musical raw material, and the shortest possible path from the musician's expression to the audience's impression.

It is as if Pärt's music calls for being performed on Baroque instruments – so that is what we will do.
MON ask what Pärt and Handel have in common Handel . Musically speaking, the answer is: nothing. But perhaps, despite their differences, both composers seek the divine? Handel almost the incarnation of ornamentation and virtuosity, while Pärt is the absence of all that. Where beauty lies is up to the audience to judge.
This is the first time CoCo has interpreted Arvo Pärt's compositions – and we expect to open up new soundscapes and possibilities when we interpret the composer's layered works with the orchestra's period instruments.

Under the direction of Tõnu Kaljuste, CoCo will collaborate with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) to prepare a concert program featuring music by Arvo Pärt and Georg Friedrich Handel.

The concert will take place on August 25 as part of Tartu 2025 – the main program for the European Capital of Culture. The concert will be followed by a recording process with a view to releasing an album of Arvo Pärt's works under Berlin Classics, and later a tour of various European venues.