Composers Show Solidarity With Ukraine

A statement by the Estonian classical and religious music composer, Arvo Pärt, was recently published on his behalf by the Arvo Pärt Center in multiple languages. 

“Dear friends in Ukraine, dear colleagues, dear all fighting for your home at the price of your life,
We bow before your bravery, bravery in the face of nearly unbearable suffering.
We are with you as much as we are able to. All that is left to us is a lump in our throats and tears and prayers. Words have begun to lose their meaning.
Forgive us!
Forgive us for failing to protect you from a disaster unimaginable in our time.
Long live Ukraine! Слава Україні!”

Across the last decade, Pärt has been one of the most-performed living composers in the world, including in Ukraine and Russia.

Similarly, English composer John Rutter released a video of his new composition set to a Ukrainian prayer text which translates to "Good Lord, protect the Ukraine. Give her strength, courage, faith, hope. Amen."

As posted on his website, the score to the work is available for free by contacting his team, who encourages donations to the Disaster Emergency Fund.

“How can a composer respond to a global tragedy?” John began in the video of his performance with the Cambridge Singers. “I suppose, by writing music. Like everybody, I’ve been shocked and dismayed by the events of recent days, and the first thing I wanted to do was write some music that would respond in my own way.

“I went to a late-night service in my old college chapel, where they sang a setting of a lovely Ukrainian prayer. So, having encountered the text in another musical setting…I wrote my own music,” Rutter continued. “I hope the meaning of the text will resonate in people’s hearts…it still speaks with my own voice but in terms that reach out to the Ukrainian people in their hour of need.”

According to the UN’s recent reports, there are over 1,500 civilian casualties in Ukraine including over a thousand injured. As NPR reports from the UN, three million people from Ukraine have now fled to neighboring countries.

Rutter’s performance with the Cambridge Singers can be watched below.