Tabula Rasa

Arvo Part, an Estonian composer, wrote this musical composition in 1977. The two 30 minutes' movements “Ludus” and “Silentium” is a double concerto for two solo violins, prepared piano, and chamber orchestra. It all began in 1968, when Part fell publicly silent and entered a period of artistic reorientation, when he developed his tintinnabuli style of composition, which pairs two voices, one playing the notes of a scale (Melodic Voice), and the other playing notes of a triad (Tintinnabuli Voice). Part emerged from this period of innovation in 1976, and composed many of his most well-known works, including Fratres, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, and Summa, all written in the tintinnabuli style. Tabula Rasa is one of these earliest pieces, and holds the distinction of being one of the first compositions to reach Western listeners outside of Estonia and the Soviet States. 
 
Tabula Rasa was composed at the request of Eri Klas, a friend and conductor, who requested Part to write a piece to accompany Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 1, which was scored for two violins, prepared piano, harpsichord, and string chamber ensemble, for an upcoming concert. Tabula Rasa is dedicated to violinist Gidon Kremer. who premièred the piece in Tallinn, Estonia, on 30 September 1977, with Tatjana Grindenko, on solo second violin, Alfred Schnittkeon the prepared piano, and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Eri Klas.

Violinist Gidon Kremer has described Tabula rasa as a declaration of silence, a manifesto of concentrating on important things. He has also admitted that this piece changed his life. The phrase tabula rasa comes from ancient philosophy and is directly translated as “blank slate” or “erased slate.” Explained Arvo Part, "Before one says something, perhaps it is better to say nothing. My music has emerged only after I have been silent for quite some time, literally silent. For me, “silent” means “nothing” from which God created the world. Ideally, a silent pause is something sacred… If someone approaches silence with love, then this might give birth to music. A composer must often wait a long time for his music. This kind of sublime anticipation is exactly the kind of pause that I value so much." 
 
Here are four albums:

Arvo Part: Tabula Rasa. Renaud Capuçon (violin) and Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne. Release Date: 10 Sept 2021. Label: Erato.

Arvo Part: Tabula Rasa. Saulus Sondeskis, Dennis Russell Davis, Gidon Kremer (violin), Tatjana Grindenko (violin), Alfred Schnitte (prepared piano), Keith Jarrett (piano), 12 cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, Kremer, Grindenko, Schnitte, with Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and Staatsorchester Stuttgart. Release Date: 6 Sept 2024.  Label: ECM. 

Arvo Part: Mullova, Jarvi. Paavo Jarvi with Viktoria Mullova (violin), and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Release Date: 28 Sept 2018. Label: Onyx.

​Arvo Part: A Portrait. Alexei Lubimov (piano), Antal Eisrich (percussion), Tibor Parkanyi (cello), Sandor Falvai (piano), Jurgen Petrenko (organ), Kevin Bowyer (organ), Miklos Kovacs (percussion), Frans Helmerson (cello), Simon Mulligan (piano), Daniel Hope (violin), Peter Davis (organ), Lesley Hatfield (violin), Rebecca Hirsch (violin), and Bamberger Symphoniker, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra Strings, Tonus Peregrinus, Elora Festival Singers, Elora Festival Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Lancing College Choir, Neeme Järvi, Tamas Benedek, Antony Pitts, Noel Edison, Takuo Yuasa, Neil Cox. Release Date: May 2005. LabeL: Naxos.