14 october, 2014
Arvo Pärt, famous and important composer in the field of contemporary music, created a musical piece dedicated to the Little Shepherds of Fatima, whose manuscript will be published in the October issue of Fatima XXI - Cultural Journal of the Sanctuary of Fatima.
In a press conference held on October 12, the Rector of the Fatima Shrine, Fr. Carlos Cabecinhas, announced that the piece will be presented in a concert on February 20, 2015, in Lisbon Cathedral.
At the invitation of the Sanctuary and in the context of the Centenary Celebration of the Fatima Apparitions, the Estonian composer visited Fatima in May 2012, accompanied by his wife, Nora. Subsequently challenged to present a text-testimony about the experience of his coming to the Cova da Iria, for publication in this latest editorial project of the Sanctuary of Fatima, Arvo Pärt made us a surprise and offered to the Sanctuary the manuscript of a musical composition, dated from May 19, 2014, dedicated to the Little Shepherds and entitled Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fatima [Three Little Shepherds of Fatima]. This is a brief piece for mixed choir a cappella composed on the text of a verse from Psalm 8.
Manuel Lourenço Silva, executive producer of the musical program for the Centenary of the Apparitions, enhances the importance of this author in the world music panorama: "Arvo Pärt cannot be overlooked in music history. He belongs to what has being called the Holy Minimalism, although whatever label you want to assign him seems inaccurate or one-sided, if we take into account his musical development and the range of his works. He often uses the tintinnabuli technique, so named and formulated by Pärt himself, and his music has a distinctive trait of deep spirituality. He changes about by turns between simple, almost childlike, melodies and rich and colorful harmonies, and alternates sonic explosions and deep silences. The piece Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fatima is a good example of this, indeed. In the recent encounter we had with the composer, we noticed that Pärt is a man of faith, and that his music expresses his relentless quest. It is a rare and unique composer." The message of Fatima comes out enriched with this contribution.
As Manuel Lourenço Silva underlines, "not only the name of Fatima will be registered and included into the works catalogue of one of the greatest composers of our time, but also the title and the text chosen for the musical composition, dedicated to the Little Shepherds, highlight the importance of children´s voices as messengers; and last but not the least, we see that Arvo Pärt was touched by Fatima spirituality and message." The manuscript-witness is made known in the pages of the October 13 edition of the cultural journal Fatima XXI, under "Reading, Listening to and Seeing Fatima." Some additional details about the piece can be found at http://www.universaledition.com, in the works catalogue of Arvo Pärt.
LeopolDina Simões
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