Arvo Pärt’s Kanon Pokajanen

Last week, we took a moment to discuss the liturgical genre of the canon — a large hymn with nine sections, called odes, each of which has a literary connection to one of nine biblical canticles.

Arvo Pärt’s magisterial choral setting, Kanon Pokajanen, was an attempt to set the entire Canon of Repentance to Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Church Slavonic, a sort of proto-Slavic language that is still used liturgically in Slavic countries.

One of Pärt’s defining compositional characteristics is his intense interest in text as a starting point for developing musical materials. Most of his music composed in the ‘tintinnabuli style’ (his unique mixture of bell-like chord tones with stepwise melodic tones) flows directly from specific texts, even some purely instrumental material. The development of this technique also corresponds to the time of Pärt’s conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church, and to a fundamental reevaluation of  — and a reorientation in — his compositional career.

In this case, the choral writing follows the Slavonic text closely, as you can see from the photo of the manuscript here. Quite interestingly, although Pärt has an individual and constantly discernible style, and though he would identify as an Estonian, this music has a ‘Slavonic sound’ that flows from his linguistic orientation.

One point that is worth taking into account is that Pärt doesn’t think of his music as ‘contemplative’, but rather as ‘concentrated’. He is trying to say a great deal without any excessive material or expressions. There is a kind of restraint and attention payed to individual notes and their combinations that allows the inner life of these texts to speak clearly and to move the spirit directly.

While the Kanon Pokajanen is quite long to take in at one sitting, such as in the linked performance below, the various segments can be heard as individual movements. The final ‘Prayer after the Canon’ merits special attention for its beauty, its heartfelt expressivity, and an especially memorable ‘Amen’ to conclude the entire work. The linked performance of this movement includes an English translation and relevant iconography.

I hope this music helps you on your Lenten journey.

Justin Appel, Director of Music

Kanon Pokajanen, Arvo Pärt, Chamber Choir Aquarius (https://youtu.be/h0i7S_LIONg)

Kanon Pokajanen: Prayer after the Canon, Arvo Pärt, East/West Festival Choir (https://youtu.be/2bhf_11skf0)