Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) has gained notoriety in the 1990s for his minimalist works such as Berliner Messe and Passio. Vestiges of the composer’s early experiments with serialism and deterministic techniques, however, still linger in his recent work. His frequently performed Magnificat (1989) is based on a deterministic structuring of rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, voicing, and texture, organized around the pattern of word divisions and syllabic stresses in the text. The term “deterministic,” as used in this article, refers to a process by which the manipulation of musical elements (pitches, rhythms, harmonies, textures, dynamics, etc.) is determined by formulas or predictable sequences. Serialism is one type of determinism, but composers have used any number of formulas, often extramusical, to determine and manipulate the musical elements of their pieces. In Pärt’s Magnificat, these structures and their combinations operate below the surface, creating a riveting diversity within a seemingly static harmony. Part takes a few liberties with the formulas, but the piece remains tightly constructed from a limited palette of musical gestures.
The rhythms in Magnificat are determined entirely by the syllabification of the text. Dotted bar lines in the score are not metric but are used as word separators with measures ranging from one quarter note to more than a breve in length. For words of two or more syllables, each unaccented syllable is set to one quarter note; the accented syllable receives a longer note. A one-syllable word receives only a quarter note unless it is the first word in a phrase, in which case, it may be a longer note. The longer notes alternate between dotted-half notes and whole notes, an alternation that continues strictly throughout the piece without regard for phrase endings.
In most cases the last syllable of the final word in each phrase receives a long note, giving the last word two long notes. Any dotted-half note generated by the formula is replaced by a dotted-whole note in this final word. In odd-numbered phrases, a quarter note is slurred to a long note on the stressed syllable. The long note on that syllable, whether a whole note or a dotted-whole note, is reduced by half – a whole note becomes a half note and a dotted-whole note becomes a dotted-half note.
Pärt introduces two rhythmic variants of this structure. In two phrases the upper voices enter a quarter note later than the lower voice on stressed syllables. One instance occurs at “dispersit superbos,” and the second is at “et divites dimisit inanes.” In addition, the last phrase of the piece-not the expected doxology but a repeat of the text “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” is
Set in augmentation of the established rhythmic pattern.
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