Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Arvo Pärt - Fratres (for Violin & Piano)

Fratres (meaning "brothers" in Latin) is a musical work by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt exemplifying his tintinnabuli style of composition. It is three-part music, written in 1977, without fixed instrumentation and has been described as a “mesmerizing set of variations on a six-bar theme combining frantic activity and sublime stillness that encapsulates Pärt's observation that "the instant and eternity are struggling within us"

Although often performed by violin and piano, versions for larger ensembles, such as a string quartet or chamber orchestra, are also common. Performances by early music specialists have also been endorsed.

Versions for ensembles include:

chamber orchestra (1977)
four, eight, twelve, etc. cellos (1982)
string quartet (1989)
winds and percussion octet (1990)
string and percussion orchestra (1991)
band of metal instruments (2004)
three recorders, percussion, and cello or viola da gamba (2009)
saxophone quartet (2010)
Versions for solo instrument and accompaniment:

violin and piano (1980)
cello and piano (1989)
violin, string orchestra, and percussion (1992)
trombone, string orchestra, and percussion (1993)
cello, string orchestra, and percussion (1995)
guitar, string orchestra, and percussion (2000)
viola and piano (2003)
four percussionists (2006)
viola, string orchestra, and percussion (2008)

The composition has been used for many films and documentaries. Notable usages include:

1987: Rachel River directed by Sandy Smolan
1992: Sneakers directed by Phil Alden Robinson
1996: Mother Night directed by Keith Gordon; Fratres is performed by Tasmin Little (violin) and Martin Roscoe (piano)
1997: Winter Sleepers directed by Tom Tykwer
1999: eight-part PBS documentary New York: A Documentary Film directed by Ric Burns
2001: A Knight's Tale directed by Brian Helgeland,
2005: six-part BBC documentary Auschwitz: The Nazis and the ‘Final Solution’ produced by Laurence Rees, used the composition performed in 1997 by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, conducted by Tamás Benedek
2006: La Morte Rouge directed by Victor Erice
2007: There Will Be Blood directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
2013: To the Wonder directed by Terrence Malick
2013: The Place Beyond the Pines directed by Derek Cianfrance
2013: Violette directed by Martin Provost
2015: El Club directed by Pablo Larraín
2017: documentary film Mountain directed by Jennifer Peedom
2017: Félicité directed by Alain Gomis



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