Arvo Part's best known works were written after the adoption of his tintinnabuli style in 1976, but his experimental works of the 1960s prefigure his new style. While Pärt wrote a number of twelve-tone compositions in the 1960s, in 1964 he began to utilize borrowed music, particularly the music of J. S. Bach. For instance, Pärt's Credo (1968) was his last work to use serial procedures and collage techniques; he borrows J. S. Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846/1, and juxtaposes it with a twelve-tone row built on the circle of fifths. These two disparate styles are tied together through a common fundamental structure. The ways in which Pärt renders his borrowed material serve as a preview of how the composer would reconcile disparate material in his later works.

Works: Arvo Pärt: Credo (16-20).

Sources: J. S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846/1 (17-20).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Kerry O'Brien