Jessica Hische to Paul Rand to Arvo Pärt
intinnabuli (singular. tintinnabulum) (from the Latin tinnabulae, of bells) is a compositional style created by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Pärt first introduced this new style in two works: Für Alina (1976) and Spiegel Im Spiegel (1978). This simple style was influenced by the composer’s mystical experiences with chant music. Musically, Pärt’s tintinnabular music is characterized by two types of voices, the first of which (dubbed the “tintinnabular voice”) arpeggiates the tonic triad, and the second of which moves diatonically in stepwise motion. The works often have a slow and meditative tempo, and a minimalist approach to both notation and performance. Pärt’s compositional approach has expanded somewhat in the years since 1970, but the overall effect remains largely the same.
OK, so I slipped over to check today’s Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische. It was so awesome that I had to use in a blog post, regardless of the fact that I had nothing in mind to post for today. But I thought “man, I need a crazy word that starts with T”. Then tintinnabulate just popped in my head. Seems a little unusual to have a word like that kicking around the old mind-bank, for me at least, but actually, I first came across the word tintinnabulate while reading Sparkle and Spin by Paul and Ann Rand (below). In fact I read it to my 3 year old daughter last night, and I stumbled over it each time I read it aloud. My wife picked it up at the library a week or so ago and when I pulled it out I was all “Dude! Paul Rand and his wife made a children’s book!”. She didn’t know who Mr. Rand was and in the nerdiest way possible, I blurted “ABC! UPS! IBM! LOGOS!!!!”. I was a little excited.
So I checked the word on Wikipedia, and I learned for the first time, where it came from, and was blown to bits by the realization that it is from Arvo Pärt, the sparse, minimalist composer. I’ve been a fan for a couple years now, thanks to my pal Garek.
I am always blown away by how things are connected - at least, how they are connected in my mind. Coincidences - love them. Live by them.
A little more about the term, by Arvo:
Tintinnabulation is an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers - in my life, my music, my work. In my dark hours, I have the certain feeling that everything outside this one thing has no meaning. The complex and many-faceted only confuses me, and I must search for unity. What is it, this one thing, and how do I find my way to it? Traces of this perfect thing appear in many guises - and everything that is unimportant falls away. Tintinnabulation is like this… . The three notes of a triad are like bells. And that is why I call it tintinnabulation.
And now it all makes sense.
