Zwei slawische Psalmen

Zwei slawische Psalmen (Two Slavonic Psalms) for mixed choir or soloists (SACtTB) is the first work in Pärt’s oeuvre that uses a church text in the Church Slavonic language. Although composed in Estonia in 1977, it premiered in Germany in 1984. The first song is based on the shortest psalm in the Book of Psalms (Psalm 117), while the second one is based on David’s pilgrimage song Childlike Faith in God (Psalm 131).

Arvo Pärt dedicated the piece to Wilfried Brennecke (1926–2012), the German musicologist and long-time editor of chamber and contemporary music at West German Radio (WDR) in Cologne, with whom the composer had had a longstanding acquaintance and collaboration. Brennecke visited Tallinn already in 1977, when Tabula rasa astounded a…

Zwei slawische Psalmen (Two Slavonic Psalms) for mixed choir or soloists (SACtTB) is the first work in Pärt’s oeuvre that uses a church text in the Church Slavonic language. Although composed in Estonia in 1977, it premiered in Germany in 1984. The first song is based on the shortest psalm in the Book of Psalms (Psalm 117), while the second one is based on David’s pilgrimage song Childlike Faith in God (Psalm 131).

Arvo Pärt dedicated the piece to Wilfried Brennecke (1926–2012), the German musicologist and long-time editor of chamber and contemporary music at West German Radio (WDR) in Cologne, with whom the composer had had a longstanding acquaintance and collaboration. Brennecke visited Tallinn already in 1977, when Tabula rasa astounded audiences at its premiere in the assembly hall of the Tallinn Polytechnic Institute. As the artistic director of the Witten Festival for New Chamber Music organised by WDR, Brennecke commissioned multiple works from Pärt, including An den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten.

Two Slavonic Psalms premiered on 28 April 1984 at the Witten Festival, performed by the vocal quintet Collegium Vocale Köln, conducted by Wolfgang Fromme.