‘I went to nursery school every day until the end of secondary school!’ Arvo Pärt says and pauses, staring slyly at his listener. ‘My mother worked at a nursery school in Rakvere, and I always went to visit her after my lessons.’ There, the future composer often sat at the piano and played or improvised for his little friends. Arvo Pärt is a composer best known for his 'tintinnabuli' compositions. It is a lesser-known fact that in his earlier years as a composer, he also wrote children's songs and piano pieces along with music for plays and animated films.

This volume, 'Songs from Childhood', contains a selection of Arvo Pärt's music for children from the period 1956-1970. In those years he was involved with several children's studios and theatres as the piano accompanist and composer. Most of his music for children came about by way of improvisation in rehearsals and was only later completed and put on paper. These pieces therefore retain all the spontaneity and playful spirit in which they were created.

This edition is the choral score.
If you are looking for the sheet music, please go to UE36693. It Includes a CD with full and sing-along versions of the songs recorded in Estonian language and with new and colourful instrumental accompaniments by Tauno Aints in collaboration with Arvo Pärt.