Fratres (1977, many reworks after)

Fratres (Latin for “Brothers” or "Brethren") was composed in 1977 and belongs to the many works (Für Alina, Cantus, Tabula rasa etc.) that were created explosively after recognising the principles of tintinnabuli music. 

Chances are that Fratres is Arvo Pärt's most known piece due to it variety of different orchestrations and it being the most performed piece of his. Originally written in 1977 it is three-part music, without fixed instrumentation.

Fratres distinguishes itself as one of the earliest examples of a relatively dissonant tintinnabuli composition, incorporating a combination of A minor tonality with a harmonic D minor tonality. Having said that, through observations, the underlying structure is built on A minor triad. It is present throughout the entire peace perpetually, creating a serene and tranquil environment to build on. The main dissoance arises from the mentioned D harmonic minor, which incorporates an augmented second interval. The harmonic texture is enriched by having two parallel M-voices repeating the six-bar same pattern, moving down through a chain of thirds (a mediant relationship, which was essential in Post Tonal music and in the jazz realm, revolutionized by John Coltrane's Giant Steps).  This results in, eventually, every pitch this irregular scale functioning as a pitch centre, obscuring the harmonic functions. The melodic pattern itself, which is a three bar pattern and its inversions does not change, occasionally passing through varying combinations of tone and semitones.

This pattern serves as a framework forthe melodic material, which happens frequently in tintinnabuli works, especially the instrumental ones. I believe this to be a very satisfying musical tool to offset the expansion, serving as a breathe mark for the music. It emphasises the breaks, silences and stillness that arises after, almost like a call to attention. Like the wooden semantra which prefigured the use of bells in the Eastern Church, its unvarying repetition suggests the unchanging response in a litaneutical prayer. 2

As mentioned above, the title, could be translated as 'brethren', aptly describes the relationship between two M-voices. They are being mediated throughout the piece by a single T-voice, alternating. I try to imagine him composing a story, the characters going through an imaginary series of journeys, 3rd apart, always slightly grounded by the T-voice.

The T-voice is frequently in 2nd positions relative to both voices, besides couple occasions where the composer has chosen the 1st position relative to one of the M-voices. I believe these choices are made to keep the symmetrical construction.

Altogether, these six bar melodic subjects happen 9 times. Each of these statements contain the same material, two parallel M-voices a tenth apart and a single T-voice moving in between. Each statement is a third lower than the preceding one, and the M-voices first move further away from th A minor triad and then back towards in, in a systematic way.

Fratres was initially composed as three-part music without fixed instrumentation that can be performed with various instruments. In the original version, the question of scoring was left open. There are many version of the piece, but the underlying structures remains intact.

The most marked difference occurs in the version for solo violin ad piano. The violin plays aseries of variations while the harmonic matreial of the riginal is retained in the piano part. The figures on the violin part is often virtuosic, ranging from rapid arpeggiations to harmonics and double/triple stops, always in relation to the piano part. This version is quite exciting but as Paul Hillier puts it:

"...it takes a gifte performer to meet the challenge of playing the notes in a way that does not do violence to the music's essential serenity."3

The opening eight bars, condensed to two staffs, with the right hand music transposed down an octave. 4

The M-voice construction is descending from and descending towards( 2nd and 3rd mode).

The last three bars simply repeat the previous material with melodic modes reversed, ascending from and ascending towards, showcaing Pärt's reusage of same material with a twist. The A-E drone is sustained throughout the entire piece, reminding us the center.

This example shows the initial ptiches of each statement in turn. The central 3 statements offer he most dissonant textures against the fundamental A minor. These dissonances are not functional in the note-to sense. The melodic C# is occasionally countered by the triadic C natural that comes from A minor tonality. This dissonance is purely colouristic in the sense of the word, frequently happening in further Tintinnabuli styles, also mentioned in Meditations chapter, combining different characters from different modes of a parent note of different tonalities like this example. 5