The music of Arvo Pärt draws on traditions stretching back across the centuries, yet it could only have been written by someone who had lived through the complexities and contradictions of the last half-century. In his native Estonia, his early music incurred the wrath of the Soviet authorities; when he moved to the West, his style offended against prevailing notions of taste and creativity. But at every stage, Pärt has pursued his own musical vision. Here is a survey of Pärt’s career, from early experiments with serialism, through musical collages that took their inspiration from Bach, to the discovery of his distinctive ‘tintinnabuli’ style, which unleashed a flood of innovative and fascinating new pieces.