Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäler

Composed in 1989 for organ, Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäler was completed for the Parainen Organ Festival and is dedicated to organist Karl Jussila, who premiered the piece at the same festival. Another version with a shorter title, Mein Weg, was arranged for string and percussion instruments in 1995 and is dedicated to the performers of the piece at its premiere, Andreas Peer Kähler and the Unter den Linden Chamber Orchestra.

The title was taken from The Book of Questions (Le Livre des questions, 1963), a collection of poems by the Jewish author Edmond Jabès (1912–1991) written in French and translated into German. Although Pärt has composed instrumental pieces where text has been written into the music word-by-word, here he ha…

Composed in 1989 for organ, Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäler was completed for the Parainen Organ Festival and is dedicated to organist Karl Jussila, who premiered the piece at the same festival. Another version with a shorter title, Mein Weg, was arranged for string and percussion instruments in 1995 and is dedicated to the performers of the piece at its premiere, Andreas Peer Kähler and the Unter den Linden Chamber Orchestra.

The title was taken from The Book of Questions (Le Livre des questions, 1963), a collection of poems by the Jewish author Edmond Jabès (1912–1991) written in French and translated into German. Although Pärt has composed instrumental pieces where text has been written into the music word-by-word, here he has included Jabès’ poem as a motto. It describes the volatility of life with its ups and downs.

This idea has been conveyed in music as three layers, which move in the technique of proportional canon at three different speeds, reflecting one other: the highest voices move in the eighth notes, the middle ones in the quarter notes, while the lowest move in the half notes, whereby each vocal group follows the same general line of ascending and descending phrases, passing one another while moving higher and then again on their descent.