Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)

Abstract The minimalist movement of the 1960s began as a kind of experimental music in the United States. Minimalist composers reacted against the atonal styles of the avant-garde through the use of non-functional diatonicism, repetitive patterns, the use of drones, and other means of limiting musical materials. Several American minimalist composers looked to Asian religions for spiritual and musical influence, but their European counterparts had no need of this, turning instead to their own devout religious beliefs. These composers became known as the holy minimalists. In his Spiegel im Spiegel for cello and piano, the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt uses repetition to convey the idea of infinite reflection. John Tavener, in The Protecting Veil, uses minimalist techniques to chronicle the story of a miraculous vision of the Virgin Mary.