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The Royal Philharmonic Society has awarded its Gold Medal to Arvo P\u00e4rt<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 in the same month that the Society also recognised composer Thomas Ad\u00e8s<\/a><\/strong> with the award. <\/p> On 12 September, RPS chair Angela Dixon travelled with RPS chief executive James Murphy to the 89-year-old composer\u2019s homeland of Estonia and presented him with the prize at the Arvo P\u00e4rt Centre. <\/p> \u2018I would like to express our deepest gratitude for this prestigious recognition. Music is not just about sound, but a deep connection between the past and the present, between cultures and traditions, and between individual experiences. <\/p> ‘In my father\u2019s work, this connection is embodied in the way he draws from early music traditions while creating something contemporary. And among the many traditions that have shaped his music, English choir music holds a very special place.<\/p> ‘As a composer, my father\u2019s journey towards his unique musical language – the\u00a0tintinnabuli<\/em> style – was not immediate. It was a journey of creative and spiritual exploration. His close connection with the sacred text, which is at the heart of his music, has been shaped by a profound reverence for choral and vocal traditions\u2014 traditions deeply rooted in the English early music. <\/p> ‘This bond becomes even more evident when we look at his collaborations with the renowned vocal ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble, and their founder, Paul Hillier. Through their interpretations of Arvo’s music, a new dialogue was forged between old and new, past and present.’\u00a0<\/p> First presented in 1871, the RPS Gold Medal is awarded for outstanding musicianship to the finest musicians of any nationality. It bears the image of\u00a0Beethoven<\/a><\/strong>, to celebrate the close relationship between the composer and the Society which commissioned his\u00a0Ninth Symphony<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p> Recipients are chosen annually by the Board and Council of the RPS, and approved by RPS Members. Among prior recipients are Brahms<\/a><\/strong>, Elgar<\/a><\/strong>, Henry Wood<\/a><\/strong>, Sibelius<\/a><\/strong>, Stravinsky<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Britten<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Bernstein<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Messiaen<\/a><\/strong>, Boulez<\/a><\/strong>, Ligeti<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Kathleen Ferrier<\/a><\/strong>, and more recently Jessye Norman<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Martha Argerich<\/a><\/strong>, Daniel Barenboim<\/a><\/strong>, Janet Baker,\u00a0Peter Maxwell Davies<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Mariss Jansons<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Mitsuko Uchida<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0John Williams<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>Arvo P\u00e4rt’s son, Michael, commented:<\/h2>
The history of the RPS Gold Medal<\/h2>