Fratres (original setting for violin and piano) was commissioned by the Salzburg Festival and premiered on August 17th 1980 at that very place (violin: Gidon Kremer piano: Elena Kremer). Daniel Hope internationally acclaimed violin soloist says about the piece: 'Fratres opened up my ears in a completely new way. Recently when I recorded it I was extremely pleased about the edition by Universal Edition. A masterpiece needs an illustration that clearly depicts the composer's wishes as it was done with this piece.'Composed in Pärt's very own 'Tintinnabuli'-style this piece allows many different settings because it is not bound to aspecific klangfarbe (tone color).