Arvo Part, the Estonian composer, speaks of what music means to him personally.  Brief video, engrossing, intriguing.

As a child, Arvo’s family had a piano but with the middle notes damaged – so he experimented with the very deepest and highest notes.

Estonia was Soviet occupied for many years, during which he could not hear the music of the West.  His earlier works developed along experimental lines that disagreed with the Soviet censor.  For a while, he became creatively silent.  He turned to ancient music for inspiration, including polyphony and Gregorian chant.

(Wikipedia) Steve Reich: “Even in Estonia, Arvo was getting the same feeling that we were all getting … I love his music, and I love the fact that he is such a brave, talented man … He’s completely out of step with the zeitgeist and yet he’s enormously popular, which is so inspiring. His music fulfills a deep human need that has nothing to do with fashion.”