the clouds, and suggesting hope, resurrection, or redemption. Here, however, the effect is subtle, because it arises solely from the overtones of a single strike of the bell, rather than from separate instruments or voices. Subject matter The piece is a meditation on death. Pärt's biographer, Paul Hillier, suggests that "how we live depends on our relationship with death: how we make music depends on our relationship to silence." It is significant that the piece begins and ends with silence—that the silence is written in the score. This silence creates a frame around the piece and has spiritual significance. It suggests that we come from silence, and return to silence; it reminds us that before we were born and after we die we are silent with respect to this world. Speaking on his reaction to Britten's death, Pärt admitted, Why did the date of Benjamin Britten's death – 4 December 1976 – touch such a chord in me? During this time I was obviously at the point where I could recognise the magnitude of such a loss. Inexplicable feelings of guilt, more than that even, arose in me. I had just discovered Britten for myself. Just before his death I began to appreciate the unusual purity of his music – I had had the impression of the same kind of purity in the ballads of Guillaume de Machaut. And besides, for a long time I had wanted to meet Britten personally – and now it would not come to that. Notes Sources and bibliography Hillier, Paul. Arvo Pärt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Quinn, Peter. Arvo Pärt, Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten. University of London, Goldsmiths' College, 1991 Wallrabenstein, Wolfram. "Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten". Zeitschrift für Musikpädagogik, 31 October 1985, 31. 13–31 External links Performance by A Far Cry, Jordan Hall, Boston, MA Compositions by Arvo Pärt 1977 compositions Funerary and memorial compositions Compositions for string orchestra Benjamin Britten