Minimalist Icons Festival
Vasks, Pärt & Górecki
“There is so much divine power and beauty in the substance of music,” —Arvo Pärt
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Vasks, Pärt & Górecki
Beginning in the 1970s, composers influenced by so-called minimalist music began fusing the repetition and tonal progressions associated with this movement with religious plainchant and motives of liturgical music.
One of the best-known works to synthesize these elements, Henryk Górecki’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” is among the few classical works to ever rank on the Billboard charts. A setting of three Polish laments—a 15th-century text of the Virgin Mary lamenting the crucifixion of Jesus, a bit of graffiti scrawled on a Gestapo prison, and a mother mourning the loss of her son during an early 20th-century Polish uprising—the symphony has been used to powerful effect in Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, Peter Weir’s Fearless, Julian Schnabel’s Basquiat, and many others.
Arvo Pärt, “whose music demands love and dedication from its interpreters yet almost nothing of its listeners, offering a timeless sound redolent of both the Renaissance and modern Minimalism,” (The New York Times), composes a metaphorical rebirth his Second Symphony. Incorporating children’s toys in the instrumentation and Tchaikovsky’s lullaby “Sweet Dreams,” the symphony harks a new period for the composer.
The evening begins with Vēstījums (The Message) by Pēteris Vasks, a composer who infuses into his work the belief that “Music is the greatest of all muses, as it reaches the divine with the most ease.” Vacillating between ominous foreboding and euphoric exaltation, it “can only be described as the symphonic equivalent to a head rush” (NPR).
Enhance Your Experience
Drinks in the Garden
Starts at 6:30pmEnjoy a drink on us and soak up the lush and leafy ambiance of our rooftop garden.
Subject to cancellation due to weather conditions.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S Grand Ave Los Angeles, California 90012
Transportation
We suggest arriving at least 1 hour before your event's start time
Metro
Get to the Hall via the A or E Line to Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill Station, or take the B or D Line to Civic Center/Grand Park Station. The Metro J Line busway also stops nearby at Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill.
Rideshare
All rideshare, access, and drop-off vehicles are welcome to unload passengers on Grand Avenue in front of the concert hall.
Parking
Parking is available directly beneath Walt Disney Concert Hall. Enter on 2nd Street or Lower Grand Avenue.
Accessibility
Walt Disney Concert Hall offers accessibility options for individuals with mobility, auditory, or visual impairments.
Create Your Own Package
Bundle any group of 3 or more concerts to save on ticket fees.
LA Phil Store
The LA Phil Store is the exclusive source of goods as uplifting as the music of the LA Phil! Visit the store at intermission or catch an artist signing after the concert.
Part of Minimalist Icons Festival
Friday Evenings 2 Series
