Arvo Pärt

Dopo la vittoria

The text of Dopo la Vittoria comes from the encyclopaedia A Historical Survey of Ecclesiastical Singers and Songs (author of the encyclopaedia: Archbishop Philaret, published in St. Petersburg in 1902). Arvo Pärt: This description fascinated me, and my decision was made promptly: This was to become my text, I wanted to set to music the original version in the way it had been written down in the encyclopaedia. So I used the unaltered Russian text and took its first line to become the title of my work. Its phrasing, dating from the year 1903, sounded to me almost like a poem in prose. The depiction itself has the form of a short two-person scenario. Ambrose baptizing Augustine. What I found particularly special and unusual in this story is the fact that Ambrose, whilst the ceremony was in full swing, began to sing this Te Deum and Augustine joined in, easily continuing the chant as if he had known it forever. And by singing antiphonally they finished off the Te Deum. I was fascinated and deeply influenced by this scene with two giants of Western culture and Christianity full of spontaneous joy and inspiration, and now felt able to accomplish the commissioned work for the City of Milan in a relatively short time. Commissioned by the City of Milan on occasion of the 1600th anniversary of the death of St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan.