H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover presents the Cultural Merit to Arvo Pärt

Following his appointment, by Sovereign Ordinance in November 2024, to the rank of Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit of Monaco, Arvo Pärt received this distinction from H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover, who traveled to Estonia to pay tribute to one of the greatest contemporary composers.
A member of the Prince Pierre Foundation from 2003 to 2011, Arvo Pärt has left a profound mark on contemporary music through the creation of his unique musical language, tintinnabuli. Born in 1935 in Estonia, he has become a key figure in sacred and minimalist music. His work—marked by silence, simplicity, and spiritual intensity—is performed and admired across the world. His journey, both deeply personal and universal, embodies a rare artistic quest.
On the occasion of the composer’s 90th birthday, the Prince Pierre Foundation, in collaboration with the Arvo Pärt Centre, organized a lecture by Javier Santiso, writer, publisher, and translator of Christian Bobin. Entitled The Vertical Man, the talk paid tribute to the work of Christian Bobin, a former recipient of the Foundation’s Literary Prize and an author whose spiritual sensitivity infuses every page of his writing.
The event took place at the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, a space dedicated to the same spiritual search that drives Bobin’s work, offering an ideal setting for this encounter between literature and music.