The time of eternity The Kanon Pokajanen (Canon of Repentance), premiered in March 1998, is Arvo Pärt's most monumental composition. It's prolonged genesis, a meticulous process of assimilation of the text in Church Slavonic, the austerity and subtlety of it's style embody the same sincerity, the same spiritual and contemplative radiance as icon painting. It is a dialogue with the Sacred in which time stands still.