Spiegel Im Spiegel  1978

for violin and piano

Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) is one of the best known and most performed pieces by Arvo Pärt and also one of his last compositions before his departure from Estonia. 

 

 

 

 

The musical material of Spiegel im Spiegel is presented with utmost clarity and strictness. It only consists of the melody of the solo instrument and the three-note piano accompaniment. The structure of the piece follows a strict formula, where no note is left to chance and the piano part is deceptive but clear. It sustains an upwardly motion, accompanying the long notes of the violin.  Although major and minor triads are very important to Pärt, here he breaks the conventional harmonies. When the violin plays an F, the piano plays and F major triad. When the violin plays a G, the listener expects a G minor triad, but only the outer voices of the triad remains true to this. The inner voice always acts as a T-voice in F major so it always goes to the nearest available note from the triad. Which constantly obscures the harmony. Whichever note is played, it corresponds to this formula, creating a unique harmonic realm. The very high notes that are appearing are always outlines the F major triad, reminding us of the tonality so somehow always stays true to giving out the main triad. This is a summary of this accompanying part. But what about the melody?

The violin only plays long notes from the F major triad. The beauty of this melody is that it sounds as if it is being improvised on the spot, almost childish like. But of course there is deep pattern hidden inside. It is actually hidden in the title itself. The second note of F major triad, A, serves as an axis and the melodic activity revolves around this centre. 

 As we progress through the melody, we make progress further away from the centre, moving away, coming towards, moving from and moving towards, creating a seemingly endless continuum. All motions are lined up symmetrical, like an image in a mirror, hence the title Spiegel Im Spiegel. A very simple sounding structure has a very systematic construction behind, a typical example of how Pärt composes.

 

This seemingly simple composition poses a great challenge to a musician in bringing the music alive during the performance. This is one of the common quality that most Pärt compositions share. To be able to convey the message of this seemingly simple music requires a different virtuosity. The composer believes that first and foremost, the musician has to have something to say to himself or herself and to others: "Everything redundant must be left aside. Just like the composer has to reduce his ego when writing the music, the musician too must put his ego aside when performing the piece." Purity and innocence are the qualities valued by the composer in the performance of his music. (Arvo Pärt Centre 2025)

A reduced version of how Pärt harmonises the notes of the scale. Whenever the melody plays a note from F major scale, it is harmonised by one of these chords in an arpeggiated way.

After each distancing, the melody returns to the central pitch of A, which, according to the composer, is like “returning home after being away”. The piano part accompanies the melody part at each step like a “guardian angel”, as the composer himself likes to say. (Arvo Pärt Centre 2025)

The melodic shape of Spiegel Im Spiegel.

Additional Note

- Lowest note G in the melody also corresponds to the lowest pitch available  for violin. Thinking about the ranges of the instruments is a crucial element when forming structures like this. There is also an arrangement of this piece for solo organ where it is transposed to C major so the lowest note of the piece corresponds to the lowest note of the keys.

→

An den Wassern zu Babel