Pärt wrote this work in 1977 for a group of seven early instruments and percussion. Its central feature is a pedal point, the notes A and E, that are sustained throughout the piece while the theme is repeated eight times. It was one of the first works the composer wrote in the minimalist idiom he called "tintinnabulation," and it has remained among his most widely performed pieces.

At the request of the Salzburg Festival in 1980, Pärt wrote a version for violin and piano that was first performed by Gidon and Elena Kremer, and numerous other versions exist, including one for a group of cellos. Not all of these issued from Pärt's own hand: the work's early-music origins seemingly have given rise to a situation in which at-will rearrangement of the piece is the norm. Versions for strings bring out an intense, penetrating quality. The intensity increases from a very quiet beginning to a peak midway into the piece and then gradually declines into pianissimo.

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