Tintinnabuli

This is a technique, which in essence unites two monodic lines of musical structure – melody and triad – into one, inseparable ensemble.

This is a technique, which in essence unites two monodic lines of musical structure – melody and triad – into one, inseparable ensemble. Tintinnabuli (after tintinnabulum, the Latin for bell) creates an original duality of voices, the course and inner logic of which are defined by strict, even complicated mathematical formulas. Through that duality of voices Pärt has given a new meaning to the horizontal and vertical axis of music, and broadened our perception of tonal and modal music in its widest sense.