Arvo Pärt
With Polyphony, Stephen Layton has recorded three albums of Arvo Pärt's choral music for Hyperion: Berliner Messe & Magnificat (1998), Triodion & other choral works (2003) and Choral Works (2014). The composer was present at the sessions for the last two, and Triodion won the choral award at the Gramophone Awards 2004.
Photographs
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton rehearsing Polyphony, Temple Church, London, 2002
Arvo Pärt, Stephen Layton and Polyphony, Temple Church, London, 2002
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton, Temple Church, London, 2002
Stephen Layton and Arvo Pärt, Triodion sessions, Temple Church, London, January 2003
Stephen Layton and Arvo Pärt with Polyphony during the Triodion sessions, January 2003
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton in conversation, Triodion sessions, January 2003
Stephen Layton and Arvo Pärt with the Hyperion recording team
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton, Choral Works sessions, All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, 2013
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton at All Hallows, Gospel Oak, 2013
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton in conversation, Choral Works sessions, 2013
Arvo and Nora Pärt with Stephen Layton at All Hallows, Gospel Oak, during the Choral Works sessions, 2013
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton, Choral Works sessions, 2013
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton during a break in the Choral Works sessions, 2013
Stephen Layton and Arvo Pärt at the Choral Works sessions, 2013
Arvo Pärt and Stephen Layton in conversation, Choral Works sessions, All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, 1 August 2013
Stephen Layton and Arvo Pärt during a break, Choral Works sessions, All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, 1 August 2013
Stephen Layton and Arvo Pärt at the music stand, Choral Works sessions, All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, 1 August 2013
Arvo Pärt with Producer Adrian Peacock, Choral Works sessions, 2013
Arvo Pärt with Stephen Layton and Owain Park - Passio - London 2017
Stephen Layton and Arvo Pärt, Oslo Cathedral
Poster: Arvo Pärt at 90, Holst Singers, St John-at-Hampstead, London, 26 July 2025
Poster: Magnificat, Hommage à Arvo Pärt, Polski Chór Kameralny, Oliwa Cathedral, Gdańsk, 6 December 2025
Film
This film is hosted on YouTube. Playing it here connects to YouTube, which may set cookies (see our privacy notice).
Concerts
Pärt’s music has been central to Stephen Layton’s concert programmes since the 1995 BBC Proms performance of Passio with the Hilliard Ensemble and Polyphony. Over three decades, he has conducted Pärt’s works internationally with his own ensembles and many others, including the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Polish Chamber Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
His performances have ranged from the monumental Passio to Berliner Messe, Litany, Fratres, Trisagion, Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten and Pärt’s shorter choral masterpieces, in concert halls and sacred spaces worldwide. The composer himself attended several performances, notably in London, Dublin and Tallinn. In October 2025, Pärt’s music featured in Polyphony’s extensive US tour, while his ninetieth birthday was marked by concerts in London and Gdańsk. The year concluded with a film of the Seven Magnificat Antiphons with the Holst Singers.
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, February 2015: Berliner Messe
Concert: Polyphony and Britten Sinfonia, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, 28 February 2015
