Estonia’s most famous contemporary composer, Arvo Pärt, premiered a new major symphony work in Los Angeles this past weekend dedicated to Mikhail Khodorkovsky (whom he calls “a great man”) and gives a nod to “all those imprisoned without rights in Russia.”  The composer similarly dedicated all of his works between 2006-2007 to Anna Politkovskaya.

For those who haven’t heard of him, Arvo Pärt is world’s most celebrated contemporary composers, whose unique post-modern, transnational minimalist music (you could pick another dozen adjectives) has won him awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Léonie Sonning Music Foundation.  Born in Estonia in 1935, much discussion revolves around the impact of the repressive Soviet environment and the state censorship of Pärt’s early works (these works were banned by the Soviets for having been based on religious texts).  Pärt ended up becoming one of those amazing artists to thrive despite Stalinism.

From the LA Times Culture Monster: