Life and death at the Proms: Arvo Pärt and Mahler
Arvo Pärt at 90: Tõnu Kaljuste directs the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Chris Christodoulou / BBC
The sound of silence
Arvo Pärt at 90; Mahler Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’
BBC PROMS 2025, ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON
“Do life and death have a meaning? We must answer this question if we are to live on …” So said Mahler; and his Second Symphony sits on a threshold, testing and piercing the veil between worlds. Music is scaled up to new power and length to tackle its weighty questions. But what of the still small voice? If you’re Arvo Pärt, father of “Holy Minimalism”, the answers are found in silence, in music distilled down to its purest essence. Two contrasting Proms this week both reached towards the ineffable – did they grasp it?
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