The Study of Tintinnabuli, and Additive/Subtractive Process in the Music of Arvo Pärt, and a Comparison to Repetitive Elements of Iranian Traditional Music

The purpose of this article is to study Arvo Pärt''s Tintinnabuli technique as well as additive/subtractive Process in a selected number of his pieces، and to compare them with some of repetitive elements in Iranian traditional music. The word Tintinnabuli is originally a Latin word which means «like a ringing bell» or «small bell». The choice of name has roots in Pärt''s interest in the sound of church bells and his efforts to recreate them in his music. This technique، which was invented in the 70s، is a two-voice texture، which consists of the notes of the tonic triad (Ttintinnabuli voice) and the melody line which usually moves stepwise. This technique can be defined in four different types (positions) based on the arrangement of the voices; first position-superior، second position-superior، first position-inferior، second position-inferior. In the superior positions the arpeggiation of the tonic triad is placed above the main melodic line and in the inferior type the arrangement is vice versa. In addition to tintinnabuli style، this article investigates the gradual increase and decrease as a leading factor in the structure of the selected pieces. We will reveal how these gradual changes apply to the number of notes in phrases، register and meter، and how they result in repetitive elements. An analysis of portions of Für Alina، Fratres and Tabula Rasa as three significant works written in the 70s based on the discussed techniques will follow the introductory discussion. The analysis will show Für Alina is merely based on the simplest form of the Tintinnabuli texture in first position (inferior). It also features a gradual increase followed by a decrease in the number of the notes throughout the piece. The analysis of Fratres will show that the retrograde relationship plays a prominent role in the structure of the main theme. In this composition we can see a combination of two different positions of the Tintinnabuli technique. Tabula Rasa is the last piece which will be studied in this article. This piece is a good example of interactions between increase and decrease in a variety of factors including meter، number of notes، and register. At the end، due to the similarities between the Pärt''s compositional techniques and some of repetitive gestures in Iranian music، we will study examples of repetition in latter genre and will compare them to the Pärt''s music. The repetitive elements include strumming the open strings، the repetitions of «shahed» and «eest» notes in the melody، as well as the increase and decrease in the register of the melodic lines with emphasis on pivot tones. A few examples in each category will show how these repetitions in Iranian traditional music are similar to those of Part''s compositions. The purpose of this comparison is to identify the simple common aspects of Iranian music which have been practiced for hundreds of years with more recent approaches in Western contemporary music.