Te Deum was a quest for something evanescent, something long lost or not yet found, a quest for something believed to be non-existent, but so real that it exists not only within us but beyond our being as well.

 Arvo Pärt

Many vocal works by Arvo Pärt are composed for liturgical or prayer texts. Te Deum was based on an early Christian hymn from the late 4th century AD, also known as the Ambrosian Hymn. The text’s 29 lines are divided into 17 parts which in turn are combined into three main groups. However, these divisions can be hardly heard when listening to the work. Rather, they form a vivid whole in the listener’s perception. Each line of verse is first presented by a men’s or a women’s choir as a free melismatic melody that resembles a Gregorian chant. The text is then echoed by a distant third or “divine” choir, but now following much stricter composition rules. Here and there, verse repetition is taken over by instruments. The use of a pre-recorded wind harp, playing the role of an organ point, gives the piece an unusual effect. Its function is similar to the ison in Byzantine chant.

Historically, Te Deum has rather been a stately and majestic musical work, but Pärt’s praise to God includes little outward glory. The music stems from silence and heads back to silence; the gaze of a humble mind is turned inwards.

Many years ago Arvo Pärt met the Swiss painter Martin Ruf, who said that it is possible to distinguish over twenty shades of blue in the mountains. This knowledge was stored in the composer’s mind and later became one of the initial impulses for this composition. When transferring the structural lines of Te Deum onto paper, we can suddenly see a majestic mountain panorama.

The composition was premiered by the WDR Radio Choir and Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies on 19 January 1985 in Cologne. However, the interpretation of Te Deum further matured under the direction of the Estonian conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, who has captured the true essence of the work and whose complete musical vision has since inspired many performers.