Arvo Pärt describes his encounter with the text and the history of setting this text to music thus: He was commissioned by KölnMusic GmbH to write a work commemorating the 750th anniversary of the building of Cologne Cathedral. He finished it in 1997 and it premiered at Cologne Cathedral on March 17, 1998, performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under the direction of Tõnu Kaljuste, to whom this piece was dedicated.
Structure
As Pärt said, "the words are very important to me, they define the music" and furthermore "the construction of the music is based on the construction of the text." So the structure of the music is going to be based on its text, namely the "Canon of Repentance." The Eastern Orthodoxcanon, in general, is composed of nine odes. Each ode begins with an introductory verse called the eirmos which is followed by four verses called troparia all interspersed with antiphonal responses suited for the canon's subject. The last troparion is referred to as the Theotokion, so-called because it is written in honor of the Theotokos. There are also intermezzo hymns which serve to encapsulate the canon's theme: the Sedalen, the Kontakion and its Ikos, and the Prayer after the Canon. The latter concludes the canon and can serve as pre-Communion prayer. The eirmos is a paraphrase of one of the nine canticles found in Scripture, usually taking a specific verse or the general idea in the Biblical song. Here are the list of the Biblical canticles with their traditional names:
Normally the second ode is omitted owing to its severe nature. The most notable exception to this is in the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete which is chanted during Great Lent. In most canons, including the present one, there is no text written for Ode II and therefore there is not an Ode II in Kanon Pokajanen. The numbering, however, does not change as shown in the outline below for the entire piece:
Ode I
Ode III
Ode IV
Ode V
Ode VI
Kondakion
Ikos
Ode VII
Ode VIII
Ode IX
Prayer after the Canon
Musical Characteristics
Kanon Pokajanen exhibits characteristics of Pärt's tinntinabular style. The piece remains almost exclusively in D minor, deviating only in particularly expressive passages and sometimes final cadences.
The eirmoi is rendered in a full choral sound. In between the phrases, there are often pauses of silence before the choir resumes. Most of the time, the soprano and the tenor sing the melody and the alto and bass sing the harmony.
The troparia has a recitative-like sound with only a few parts singing at any one time. There is a general voice disposition that is maintained throughout the odes: the first and third have the bass singing the melody and the tenor singing the harmony; the second has the soprano and alto sing the melody and the tenor sing the harmony; the last one has the alto and tenor sing the melody and the soprano sing the harmony. Both the eirmoi and the troparia follow the characteristic of Russian chant singing where the former is sung and the latter is sung recitatively.
The two antiphonal responses are Pomiluy mya, Bozhe, pomiluy mya and the Lesser Doxology. The former one uses a hocket effect between a set of voices. The latter is sung in rhythmic unison.
The intermezzo verses have a distinct musical character that is closer to Byzantine style chant than the more Russian-influenced odes.
The Sedalen employs a unison melody, also closer to the Byzantine style, sung by all four voices. It includes a drone on a D that traverses the entire D scale, gradually intensifying in volume and register. The Lesser Doxology is sung in a matter similar to the Pomiluy mya, Bozhe, pomiluy mya response. The Theotokion at the end of the Sedalen is sung in the usual matter except with solo voices.
The Kontakion is also Byzantine-like in its melody. The soprano and the alto sing it together while the tenor and bass provide the ison. The key here is A melodic minor.
The Ikos is much like the Kontakion except the tenor and bass sing both the melody and the ison.
The Prayer after the Canon is unique in its setting and there is a building intensity in terms of the strength and volume of the voices before receding again to a lighter and more ethereal sound.
Overall, the melodies and harmonies remain fairly static throughout the piece. Variation is created through alteration of the dispositions and roles of the various voice parts. The odes build toward each intermezzo section, treating it as a small climax. The Prayer after the Canon is the most intense of all the climaxes, paralleling the prayer's function.
Endnotes
– Arvo Pärt, "Kanon pokajanen", trans. Catherine Schelbert in accompanying booklet, Kanon Pokajanen performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste. ECM New Series 1654/55, 1998. Compact disc.
– Ibid., "Starting from Scratch", interviewed by Nick Kimberly, Gramophone 74, 16.
