Beatus Petronius

Beatus Petronius, as well as Statuit ei Dominus were commissioned in 1990 to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the Basilica San Petronio in Bologna. Inspired by the fact that San Petronio is equipped with two church organs, Arvo Pärt composed both pieces as antiphonal songs for two choirs and two organs. Although the pieces were composed for the same occasion, they can also be performed separately. The works premiered at Basilica San Petronio in Bologna on 3 October 1990 with Liuwe Tamminga and Umberto Forni on organs and the San Petronio Children’s Choir and Kühn Children’s Choir conducted by Sergio Vartolo.

The versions of both works for mixed choir, eight woodwind instruments, tubular bells and string orchestra were created in 2011 for the MITO Settembr…

Beatus Petronius, as well as Statuit ei Dominus were commissioned in 1990 to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the Basilica San Petronio in Bologna. Inspired by the fact that San Petronio is equipped with two church organs, Arvo Pärt composed both pieces as antiphonal songs for two choirs and two organs. Although the pieces were composed for the same occasion, they can also be performed separately. The works premiered at Basilica San Petronio in Bologna on 3 October 1990 with Liuwe Tamminga and Umberto Forni on organs and the San Petronio Children’s Choir and Kühn Children’s Choir conducted by Sergio Vartolo.

The versions of both works for mixed choir, eight woodwind instruments, tubular bells and string orchestra were created in 2011 for the MITO Settembre Musica festival celebrating the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. Pärt retained the grouping of Beatus Petronius and Statuit ei Dominus in the orchestral version, dividing both choir and orchestra each into two sections. The addition of a string orchestra on one side and a wind section on the other clearly emphasises the antiphonal character of both pieces. The new versions of the works were premiered on 9 and 10 September 2011 in Turin and Milan by the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino and the Torino Vocalensemble, conducted by Tito Ceccherini.

Arvo Pärt: "The feathery lightness of Beatus Petronius and, by contrast, the potency of Statuit ei Dominus are two sonic worlds, like the two sides of God, which I tried to touch, to trace in these works. It is difficult for us to fathom God – in terms of both his greatness and simultaneous infinite benevolence."