(5 out of 5 stars) Arvo Part was born on September 11th, 1935 in Estonia. By his 27th year, he had graduated from the Tallinn Music Conservatory and was already composing conventional cantatas and oratorios. During his early years as a composer, however, he struggled with creative despair and entered two different periods of self-imposed silence. He emerged from this period of reflection, at the age of 41, having discovered a simple, heartfelt compositional method based on the three notes of a musical triad: tintinnabuli (from the Latin, little bells). A short work for piano, For Alina , was the first piece that introduced this new compositional style to Part s listening public.