Facsimile as a gift

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Elke Büdenbender visited the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa on 9 October as part of their trip to Estonia. This centre was opened in in 2018 in honour of the composer. As a gift, they presented Arvo and Michael Pärt with the Bärenreiter facsimile of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. The autograph manuscript is held at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Pärt lived in Berlin for a long time (1981–2008) but now resides in Estonia again.