The Hardest “Easy” Piece Ever Written (Arvo Pärt and Für Alina, ft. Tähe-Lee Liiv)
Author: Robert Fleitz
Publication: ToneBase YouTube Channel
Description: Analytical discussion of Arvo Pärt’s Für Alina, featuring Tähe-Lee Liiv.
With Für Alina, Arvo Pärt emerged from Soviet censorship and silence to invent Tintinnabuli and transform the sound of classical music.
Arvo Pärt’s "Für Alina" is one of the most deceptively simple piano pieces ever written. Just two pages - no bar lines, no tempo. On the surface, it looks like a simple exercise. In reality, it marks the birth of Pärt’s revolutionary tintinnabuli style, a music of radical simplicity that carries endless emotional and spiritual depth. In this video, we trace Pärt’s remarkable journey: from his early Soviet-era experiments in serialism, to the censorship and creative crisis that forced him into silence, to his rediscovery of religious faith and a new sound world that culminated in "Für Alina". With insights from pianist Tähe-Lee Liiv—who has recorded all of Pärt’s piano works—we explore why this tiny piece may be one of the most difficult and transformative works in the repertoire. This is a story of silence, renewal, spiritual crisis, and the courage to begin again.
