Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, Ottawa
https://www.chamberfest.com/event/2026/in-finite-arvo-part-death-and-the-maiden
In celebration of Arvo Pärt’s 90th year, Chamberfest presents in / finite, an evening that moves from the stillness of the infinite to the immediacy of human experience.
The first half unfolds as a continuous arc of Pärt’s music, performed by the Ottawa Bach Choir, pianist Carson Becke, and members of the Ironwood Quartet. Serving as a poignant homage to one of the greatest composers of the past century, it brings together some of Pärt’s most celebrated and meditative chamber works Für Alina, Fratres, and Spiegel im Spiegel, interwoven with his Magnificat, the motet The Deer’s Cry, and his recent composition Vater unser. At the heart of this music is Pärt’s distinctive style called tintinnabuli — a stripped-down approach where simple triads and stepwise lines create a luminous, resonant sound world that seems to suspend time itself.
After intermission, the perspective shifts. In the hands of the Ironwood Quartet, Schubert’s Death and the Maiden thrusts us firmly into the human sphere. A work of gripping intensity and emotional directness, Schubert’s opus is widely considered one of the most compelling and profound achievements in the string quartet repertoire. Where Pärt contemplates eternity, Schubert confronts mortality head-on, with music that is at once restless, intimate, and unforgettable.
The evening closes with In Paradisum from Fauré’s Requiem, offered in a new chamber arrangement by this evening’s performers — a final gesture of light and release.
Programme:
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
Für Alina
Vater Unser
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Canon in D major, BWV 1072
A. Pärt
The Deer’s Cry
Fratres
Magnificat
Spiegel im Spiegel
Intermission
Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
String Quartet in D minor (“Death and the Maiden”), D. 810
Allegro
Andante con moto
Scherzo: Allegro molto – Trio
Presto
Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)
Requiem, Op. 48
In Paradisum
This performance runs approximately 2 hours, including a 20-minute intermission. The first half will be presented as a continuous experience without pause.