Spiegel im Spiegel
Encyclopedia
Spiegel im Spiegel is a piece of music written by Arvo Pärt
in 1978, just prior to his departure from Estonia
. The piece is in the tintinnabular style of composition, wherein a melodic voice, operating over diatonic scales, and tintinnabular voice, operating within a triad
on the tonic
, accompany each other. It is about ten minutes long.
and violin
- though the violin has often been replaced with either a cello
or a viola
. Versions also exist for double bass
, clarinet
, horn
, flute
and percussion. The piece is an example of minimal music.
The piece is in F major in 6/4 time, with the piano playing rising crotchet triads and the second instrument playing slow scales, alternately rising and falling, of increasing length, which all end on the note A (the mediant
of F). The piano's left hand also plays notes, syncopated with the violin (or other instrument).
"Spiegel im Spiegel" in German
literally can mean both "mirror in the mirror" as well as "mirrors in the mirror", referring to the infinity
of image
s produced by parallel
plane
mirror
s: the tonic triads are endlessly repeated with small variations as if reflected back and forth.
In 2011 the piece was the focus of a half hour BBC Radio 4
programme, Soul Music, which examined pieces of music "with a powerful emotional impact". Violinist Tasmin Little
discussed her relationship to the piece.
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
in 1978, just prior to his departure from Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. The piece is in the tintinnabular style of composition, wherein a melodic voice, operating over diatonic scales, and tintinnabular voice, operating within a triad
Triad (music)
In music and music theory, a triad is a three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds. Its members, when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest, are called:* the Root...
on the tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
, accompany each other. It is about ten minutes long.
Description
The piece was originally written for a single pianoPiano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- though the violin has often been replaced with either a cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
or a viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
. Versions also exist for double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
and percussion. The piece is an example of minimal music.
The piece is in F major in 6/4 time, with the piano playing rising crotchet triads and the second instrument playing slow scales, alternately rising and falling, of increasing length, which all end on the note A (the mediant
Mediant
In music, the mediant is the third scale degree of the diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. Similarly, the submediant is halfway between the tonic and subdominant...
of F). The piano's left hand also plays notes, syncopated with the violin (or other instrument).
"Spiegel im Spiegel" in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
literally can mean both "mirror in the mirror" as well as "mirrors in the mirror", referring to the infinity
Infinity
Infinity is a concept in many fields, most predominantly mathematics and physics, that refers to a quantity without bound or end. People have developed various ideas throughout history about the nature of infinity...
of image
Image
An image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:...
s produced by parallel
Parallel (geometry)
Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The assumed existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate. Two lines in a plane that do not...
plane
Plane mirror
A plane mirror is a mirror with a plane reflective surface.For light rays striking a plane mirror, the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence...
mirror
Mirror
A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...
s: the tonic triads are endlessly repeated with small variations as if reflected back and forth.
In 2011 the piece was the focus of a half hour BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
programme, Soul Music, which examined pieces of music "with a powerful emotional impact". Violinist Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little is an English violinist.She studied under Pauline Scott at the Yehudi Menuhin School and later at the Guildhall School of Music, coming to prominence as a string section finalist in the 1982 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition...
discussed her relationship to the piece.
Film
- The Paolo SorrentinoPaolo SorrentinoPaolo Sorrentino is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He was born in Naples.Sorrentino's first film as screenwriter, Polvere di Napoli, was released in 1998. He began directing several short movies, like L'amore non ha confini, in 1998, and La notte lunga, in 2001...
film This must be the PlaceThis Must Be the Place (film)This Must Be the Place is a 2011 drama film directed by Paolo Sorrentino, written by Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello. It stars Sean Penn and Frances McDormand...
(2011) - The Isabel CoixetIsabel CoixetIsabel Coixet is a Spanish film director.She received an M.A. in history from the University of Barcelona...
film ElegyElegy (film)Elegy is a 2008 drama directed by Spanish director Isabel Coixet and based on a Philip Roth novel, The Dying Animal. Staring Penélope Cruz and Ben Kingsley. The film is set in New York City, but was filmed in Vancouver.-Plot:...
(2008) - The film Dear FrankieDear FrankieDear Frankie is a 2004 British drama film directed by Shona Auerbach. The screenplay by Andrea Gibb focuses on a young single mother whose love for her son prompts her to perpetuate a deception designed to protect him from the truth about his father....
(2004) - The documentary film Touching the VoidTouching the Void (film)Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary film based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous and near fatal attempt to climb the 6,344 metre Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.-Outline:...
(2003) - The Gus Van SantGus Van SantGus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
film Gerry (2002) - The Jean-Luc GodardJean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
short film "Dans le Noir du Temps" (2002) - The Tom TykwerTom TykwerTom Tykwer is a German film director, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing Run Lola Run , Heaven , Perfume: The Story of a Murderer , and The International ....
film HeavenHeaven (2002 film)Heaven is a 2002 Film directed by Tom Tykwer, starring Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi. Co-screenwriter Krzysztof Kieślowski intended for it to be the first part of a trilogy , but died before he could complete the project...
(2002) - The film Soldados de SalaminaSoldados de SalaminaSoldiers of Salamis is a novel published in 2001 by Spanish author Javier Cercas. A film adaptation Soldados de Salamina was released in 2003. The novel was well received in Spanish literary circles and the English translation by Anne McLean won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for...
(Spain, David TruebaDavid TruebaDavid Trueba is a Spanish novelist, film director and screenwriter. He is the brother of Academy Award winner Fernando Trueba, and was once married to Ariadna Gil.He has published two novels in Anagrama Editions....
, 2002) - The Guy RitchieGuy RitchieGuy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and film maker who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes.-Early life:...
film Swept Away (2002) - The film Mother NightMother Night (film)Mother Night is a 1996 film based on Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 book of the same name.Nick Nolte stars as Howard W. Campbell, Jr., an American who moves with his family to Germany after World War I and goes on to become a successful German language playwright...
(1996)
Dance
- David NixonDavid Nixon (choreographer)David Nixon OBE is a dance choreographer. Born in Chatham, Ontario, Nixon trained at the National Ballet School of Canada and danced with the National Ballet of Canada. He joined the Deutsche Oper Ballet, in Berlin, in 1985 as a principal dancer where he won the Critics Award for Best Male...
's Dracula performed by the Northern Ballet (UK, 2009) - PilobolusPilobolus (dance company)Pilobolus is a contemporary dance company whose origins are traced to a 1971 Dartmouth College dance class taught by Alison Becker Chase. The group first began performing in October 1971....
' Rushes in a scene choreographed using chairs. (US, 2007) - Christopher WheeldonChristopher WheeldonChristopher Wheeldon is an international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Born in Somerset, England, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at the age of 8. He attended the Royal Ballet School between the ages of 11 and 18...
's 2005 ballet After the RainAfter the Rain (ballet)After the Rain is a ballet made by Christopher Wheeldon on New York City Ballet to music of Arvo Pärt; Tabula Rasa and Spiegel im Spiegel. The premiere took place on Saturday, January 22nd, 2005, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center...
, part two (Pärt's Tabula Rasa is the score to part one.) - John NeumeierJohn NeumeierJohn Neumeier is a well-known American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet since 1973. 5 years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also includes a boarding school...
's ballet Othello (1985), the central pas-de deux (Pärt's Tabula Rasa is the score to part two.)
Theatre
- The New York production of Eurydice, a play by Sarah RuhlSarah RuhlSarah Ruhl is an American playwright. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.-Biography:Ruhl was born in Wilmette, Illinois. Originally, she intended to be a poet. However, after she studied under Paula Vogel at Brown University , she was convinced to switch to playwrighting...
(2007)
Television
- The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
drama HattieHattie (television film)Hattie is a television film on the life of the British comic actress Hattie Jacques, played by Ruth Jones, her marriage to John Le Mesurier and her affair with their lodger John Schofield...
(2011) - The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series Criminal Justice (2009) - It was also used in a 2008 episode of the British medical drama Casualty, when character Dr. Ruth Winters attempted suicide, and again in January 2010 when Dr. Adam Trueman's son, Harry Trueman, dies after a car accident.
- The season two episode of SupernaturalSupernatural (TV series)Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
entitled "What is and What Should Never BeWhat Is and What Should Never Be (Supernatural)"What Is and What Should Never Be" is the twentieth episode of the paranormal drama television series Supernaturals second season. It was first broadcast on May 3, 2007, on The CW. The narrative follows series protagonist Dean Winchester who finds himself in an alternate reality after a...
." (2007) - The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary Auschwitz: The Nazis and 'The Final Solution (2005) - The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary Century of the Self (2002) by Adam CurtisAdam CurtisAdam Curtis is a British BAFTA winning documentarian and a writer, television producer, director and narrator. He works for BBC Current Affairs.-Early life and education:Curtis was born in 1955... - The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary John Steinbeck: Voice of America (2011) by Melvyn BraggMelvyn BraggMelvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show... - The HBO television movie WitWit (film)Wit is a 2001 American television movie directed by Mike Nichols. The teleplay by Nichols and Emma Thompson is based on the 1998 Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same title by Margaret Edson....
(2001)
External links
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013q20tBBC Radio 4 programme on "Spiegel im Spiegel"