' (meaning "brothers" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

) is a musical work by the Estonian composer

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

exemplifying his tintinnabuli style of composition. It is three-part music, written in 1977, ''without fixed instrumentation'' and has been described as a "mesmerizing set of variations on a six-bar theme combining frantic activity and sublime stillness that encapsulates Pärt's observation that 'the instant and eternity are struggling within us'".Arvo Pärt
Sinfini Music website

Structure

Structurally, ''Fratres'' consists of a set of nine

chord sequence In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from t ...

s, separated by a recurring

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

motif (the so-called "refuge"). The chord sequences themselves follow a pattern, and while the progressing chords explore a rich harmonic space, they have been generated by means of a simple formula. ''Fratres'' is driven by three main voices. The low and high voice are each restricted to playing notes from the D harmonic minor scale (D, E, F, G, A, Bb, C#); the middle voice is restricted to the notes of the A minor triad (A, C, E). The entire piece is accompanied by drones in A and E, which are primarily heard in the refuge between each sequence. The chords are created by the movement of the three voices: the low voice starts at C#; the high voice starts at E. Both the low and high voices are moved up or down the D harmonic minor scale at the same time, with the direction of the movement depending on the position within the sequence. The middle voice starts at A and plays a different pattern (A, E, E, C, C, C, C, A, A, E, E, C, C, A). The generated chords create harmonic ambiguity, since both C# and C are present, yielding an A major or A minor feel.

Versions

Although often performed by violin and piano, versions for larger ensembles, such as a

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, are also common. Performances by

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

specialists have also been endorsed. Versions for ensembles include: *chamber orchestra (1977) *four, eight, twelve, etc. cellos (1982) *string quartet (1989) *winds and percussion octet (1990) *string and percussion orchestra (1991) *band of metal instruments (2004) *three recorders, percussion, and cello or viola da gamba (2009) *saxophone quartet (2010) Versions for solo instrument and accompaniment: *violin and piano (1980) *cello and piano (1989) *violin, string orchestra, and percussion (1992) *trombone, string orchestra, and percussion (1993) *cello, string orchestra, and percussion (1995) *guitar, string orchestra, and percussion (2000) *viola and piano (2003) *four percussionists (2006) *viola, string orchestra, and percussion (2008)

In films

The composition has been used for many films and documentaries. Notable usages include: *1987: '' Rachel River'' directed by Sandy Smolan *1992: ''

Sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

'' directed by

Phil Alden Robinson Phil Alden Robinson (born March 1, 1950) is an American film director and screenwriter whose films include '' Field of Dreams'', ''Sneakers'', and '' The Sum of All Fears''. Early life and education Robinson was born in Long Beach, New York, the ...

*1996: '' Mother Night'' directed by Keith Gordon; ''Fratres'' is performed by Tasmin Little (violin) and Martin Roscoe (piano) *1997: '' Winter Sleepers'' directed by

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films ''Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''Heaven (2002 film), Heaven'' (2002), ''Perfume: The Sto ...

*1999: eight-part

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary '' New York: A Documentary Film'' directed by Ric Burns *2001: ''

A Knight's Tale ''A Knight's Tale'' is a 2001 American medieval action comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Brian Helgeland. The film stars Heath Ledger as William Thatcher, a peasant squire who poses as a knight and competes in tournaments, winn ...

'' directed by

Brian Helgeland Brian Thomas Helgeland (born January 17, 1961) is an American screenwriter, film producer, and director. He is best known for writing the screenplays for the films '' L.A. Confidential'' (1998) and '' Mystic River'' (2003). He wrote and directed ...

, *2005: six-part

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution''' produced by

Laurence Rees Laurence Rees (born 1957) is an English historian. He is a BAFTA winning historical documentary filmmaker and a British Book Award winning author of several books about Adolf Hitler, the Nazis and the atrocities committed, especially by them, d ...

, used the composition performed in 1997 by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, conducted by Tamás Benedek *2006: '' La Morte Rouge'' directed by Victor Erice *2007: ''

There Will Be Blood ''There Will Be Blood'' is a 2007 American epic film, epic historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel ''Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kev ...

'' directed by

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the most preeminent writer-directors of his generation, List of awards and nominations received by Paul Thomas Anders ...

*2013: '' To the Wonder'' directed by

Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (; born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. Malick began his career as part of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers and received awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and ...

*2013: ''

The Place Beyond the Pines ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' is a 2012 American Epic film, epic Crime film, crime drama film directed by Derek Cianfrance with a screenplay by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio and Darius Marder from a story by Cianfrance and Coccio. The film tells thre ...

'' directed by

Derek Cianfrance Derek M. Cianfrance (; born January 23, 1974) is an American film director, cinematographer, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for writing and directing the films ''Blue Valentine (film), Blue Valentine'' (2010), ''The Place Beyond the P ...

*2013: '' Violette'' directed by

Martin Provost Martin Provost (born 13 May 1957) is a French film director, writer and actor. He wrote and directed films such as '' Séraphine'' and ''Le Ventre de Juliette''. '' Violette,'' his 2013 biographical drama about author Violette Leduc, was screened ...

*2015: '' El Club'' directed by

Pablo Larraín Pablo Larraín Matte (; born 19 August 1976) is a Chilean filmmaker. He is known for directing films such as ''Neruda (film), Neruda'' (2016), ''Jackie (2016 film), Jackie'' (2016), ''Spencer (film), Spencer'' (2021), ''El Conde (film), El Cond ...

*2017: documentary film ''

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

'' directed by Jennifer Peedom *2017: '' Félicité'' directed by Alain Gomis

In other compositions

Jazz pianist Aaron Parks incorporated elements of ''Fratres'' into his composition "Harvesting Dance," heard on his album '' Invisible Cinema'' and on Terence Blanchard's album '' Flow''.

References

External links

The 1997 release
by the ''Hungarian State Opera Orchestra'', used in the 2005

documentary ''Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution
An Official Video
of London-based violinist Lana Trotovšek performing the version for violin and piano with pianist Yoko Misumi
Free recording of Fratres for Cellos
by the Columbia University Orchestra.
A Remixed version for Violin and Piano by Beats Antique of Oakland California

Mari Samuelsen with the Trondheim soloists
NRK1 Christmas concert in Vang church 2011 and 2012 {{Authority control Compositions by Arvo Pärt 1977 compositions