Spiegel im Spiegel
Chamber music by Arvo Pärt
The composer, Arvo Pärt, in 2008
KeyF major
Composed1978 (1978)
Scoring
  • violin or other melody instrument
  • piano

Spiegel im Spiegel (lit.Tooltip literal translation 'mirror(s) in the mirror') is a composition by Arvo Pärt written in 1978, just before his departure from Estonia. The piece is in the tintinnabular style, wherein a melodic voice, operating over diatonic scales, and tintinnabular voice, operating within a triad on the tonic, accompany each other. It is about ten minutes long.

Description

The piece was originally written for a single piano and violin – though the violin has often been replaced with either a cello or a viola. Versions also exist for saxophone, double bass, clarinet, horn, flugelhorn, flute, oboe, bassoon, trombone, and percussion. The piece is an example of minimal music.

The piece is in F major in 6/4 time, with the piano playing rising crotchet triads and the second instrument playing slow F major scales, alternately rising and falling, of increasing length, which all end on the note A (the mediant of F). The piano's left hand also plays notes, synchronised with the violin (or other instrument).

"Spiegel im Spiegel" in German can literally mean both "mirror in the mirror" as well as "mirrors in the mirror", referring to an infinity mirror, which produces an infinity of images reflected by parallel plane mirrors: the tonic triads are endlessly repeated with small variations as if reflected back and forth.[1] The structure of the melody is made by a pair of phrases characterized by the alternation between ascending and descending movement with the fulcrum on the note A. This alternation, along with the overturning of the final intervals between adjacent phrases (for example, ascending sixth in the question – descending sixth in the answer), contributes to give the impression of a figure reflecting on a mirror and walking back and toward it.

In 2011, the piece was the focus of a half-hour BBC Radio 4 programme, Soul Music, which examined pieces of music "with a powerful emotional impact". Violinist Tasmin Little discussed her relationship to the piece.[2][3]

Adaptation

The piece has been used in television, film, and theatre including:

Film

YearTypeTitleDirector
1996filmMother NightKeith Gordon
2001filmIn Praise of LoveJean-Luc Godard
2001filmThe Officers' WardFrançois Dupeyron
2001filmWitMike Nichols
2002filmGerryGus Van Sant
2002short filmDans le Noir du TempsJean-Luc Godard
2002filmHeavenTom Tykwer
2002filmSoldados de Salamina (Spain)David Trueba
2002filmSwept AwayGuy Ritchie
2002filmOn the Occasion of Remembering the Turning GateHong Sang-soo
2004filmDear FrankieShona Auerbach
2005filmTime to LeaveFrançois Ozon
2005documentaryAuschwitz: The Nazis and 'The Final Solution'Laurence Rees and Catherine Tatge
2008filmElegyIsabel Coixet
2011filmBurning ManJonathan Teplitzky
2011filmThis Must Be the PlacePaolo Sorrentino
2011documentaryThe Umbrella Man - New York Times Op-DocsErrol Morris
2013filmAbout TimeRichard Curtis
2012trailerSilent House
2013trailerGravityAlfonso Cuarón
2013filmThe EastZal Batmanglij
2013filmMovie 43Peter Farrelly and others
2014filmThe Way He LooksDaniel Ribeiro
2020TVThe Good PlaceMichael Schur
2021filmYou Won't Be AloneGoran Stolevski
2023TVTed LassoNick Mohammed

Dance

Theatre

  • The New York production of Eurydice, a play by Sarah Ruhl (2007)
  • Venezuelan production called 120 vidas x minuto ("120 Lives a Minute"), a play by Gustavo Ott (2007)
  • Czech production of Forgotten Light ("Zapomenuté světlo"), a play by Jakub Deml
  • French production of The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams) a play by Daniel Jeanneteau (2016)[4]
  • Canadian production of Othello, a play by William Shakespeare, directed by Ian Farthing at the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival (2012)

Television

Sport

  • U.S. ice dancers Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani in their free dance titled Evolution for the season 2016–17.
  • Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva adapted this song as her short programme music for two seasons: 2018-2019 and 2019–2020.
  • Japanese figure skater Shoma Uno, as part of his free program for the season of 2023–2024.

Recordings

Spiegel im Spiegel was recorded by Gidon Kremer and Elena Kremer in December 1979 and featured on the 1980 album Konzert nach dem Konzert on the Eurodisc label. Spiegel im Spiegel is featured on the 1999 album Alina on the ECM New Series label. The album, which was recorded with the participation of Pärt, includes three versions of Spiegel im Spiegel, two for violin and piano and one for cello and piano, alternated with two variations of Pärt's piano piece Für Alina.[6] The tempo of the first version of Spiegel im Spiegel is 69 bpm (larghetto or adagio) and has a more somber feel. The tempo of the second version is faster at 85 bpm (andante) and gives the sense of pushing forward. The tempo of the third version is faster than the first and slower than the second at 78 bpm (a slower andante).

Spiegel im Spiegel is featured on the 2016 album Sacred by Australian violinist Niki Vasilakis and features Deanna Djuric on piano.

Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti has the track on her 2009 album Fantasie.

References

  1. ↑ "Page vide".
  2. ↑ BBC Radio 4 - Soul Music, Series 12, Spiegel im Spiegel
  3. ↑ BBC Radio 4 – Soul Music
  4. ↑ "La Ménagerie de verre".
  5. ↑ "The Good Place" Whenever You're Ready (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb, retrieved 2020-02-03
  6. ↑ "Arvo Pärt: Alina". ECM Records. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
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