Arvo Pärt’s Credo: A scandalous premiere

The premiere of Arvo Pärt’s Credo was, to say the least, scandalous.  It was 16 November 1968 in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic.  The law at the time required that all new scores must first be shown to the composers’ union before a premiere.  Knowing the sensitive nature of the piece and the likelihood that the premiere would have been cancelled had they shown the score to the officials, the conductor Neeme Järvi and the Estonian Philharmonic organization decided to not jump through the hoops and did the premiere without the Soviet officials’ blessing.

The story goes that had a certain official not been out of town at the time, the premiere would have been blocked.  In any case, the religious nature of the work was no favourite of the Soviet government.  From the initial proclamation of “Credo in Jesum Christum” (I believe in Jesus Christ) to the following text from Matthew 5:38 “Audivistis dictum: oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente” (Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth), the work was seen as politically provocative and the Soviet saw it as a manifesto of passive resistance.

That certainly didn’t play well with the officials.  Whilst Järvi was relatively fine as the officials couldn’t find anyone to replace him, quite a few were fired from the Estonian Philharmonic organization and official commission for Pärt dried up.  The work was promptly banned by the Soviets and Pärt went into an extended hiatus in composing in search for a new musical language.