University of Tartu’s lecture series on Arvo Pärt is now accessible to international audience

In Arvo Pärt’s jubilee year, the lectures from his year as a University of Tartu professor of liberal arts have become accessible to an international audience, as English subtitles have been added to the recordings of the lecture series.

In the 2013/2014 academic year, the world-renowned composer Arvo Pärt was the professor of liberal arts at the University of Tartu. During his professorship, a seminar series titled “Word and Music” was held at the University of Tartu, with the main speaker being Professor Toomas Siitan from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

The lecture series that is freely accessible on UTTV takes the listener/spectator on a journey through Arvo Pärt’s creative path, starting from the development of his compositional style in the 1960s and his controversial relationship with modernist aesthetics, and ending with a more detailed examination of various aspects of Pärt’s work.

“Translating the subtitles for the lecture series on Arvo Pärt finally gave us the reason and opportunity to delve into the lectures that have been available for a long time,” said the translators of the series, Ann Kuslap and Merike Kala-Sikk. “We recommend listening to the entire series or individual lectures to anyone who wants to learn more about the phenomenon of Arvo Pärt. Insights into selected topics, from music theory to church history and from philosophy to film art, guide the listener to the rich cultural references in Pärt’s work. The lectures in which the composer himself participated were particularly warm and engaging.”

Born in 1935, Arvo Pärt is a world-renowned Estonian composer whose work has significantly influenced the understanding of the nature of music. Pärt’s works are performed worldwide – they can be heard on concert stages, in films, and dance and theatre performances.

The lecture series can be listened to on UTTV. Subtitles can be added by clicking the subtitles button at the bottom of the video player.