Dopo la vittoria (Piccola cantata) (1996/98)

Pärt received the commission to mark the occasion of the 1.600th anniversary of the death of Bishop Ambrose of Milan several years prior to the deadline in 1997. Pärt: 'I was still looking for the adequate text when I by chance discovered an old church music encyklopaedia written in Russian. In it I found the story of St. Ambrose and the scene of St. Augustine's baptizing performed by Ambrose. This description fascinated me, and my decision was made promptly: this was to become my text. I used the unaltered Russian text and took its first line to become the title of my work'. Outstanding: International Record Review, BBC Music Magazine.