Revised: Between Two Sounds: Arvo Part’s Journey to His Musical Language

Reviewed by:

G. Connor Salter, Professional Writing alumnus from Taylor University, Upland, IN.

Title:

Between Two Sounds: Arvo Part’s Journey to His Musical Language

Author:

Joonas Sildre (Translated into English by Adam Cullen)

Publisher:

Plough Publishing

https://www.plough.com/en

Publication Date:

September 3, 2024 (original Estonian edition released in 2018)

Format:

Hardcover

Length:

224 pages

OVERVIEW

Few living composers have the kind of acclaim that Arvo Pärt receives. Few living composers have found his engaging solutions for combining faith with his music in inventive ways. Between Two Sounds depicts his life, from his childhood through his artistic flourishing in the 1980s. The story of his struggles to develop his work against Soviet censorship became a religious crisis as his conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy makes him more open about Christianity. The spiritual journey also becomes an artistic one as his interest in Gregorian chant music for churches leads him to develop a new style: tintinnabuli, two sounds working together in a simple, melodic, yet radical sound. Ultimately, the new direction leaves him little choice but to leave his homeland.
Writing about musicians is frequently difficult. As the old adage goes, writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Some people can do it well; for example, Plough Publishing has released an English translation of Eugene Vodalazkin’s novel Brisbane, a heartbreakingly beautiful story about a religious musician’s journey after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Here, the fact this is a graphic novel proves
immensely helpful. Sildre’s illustrations find clever ways to show how the music affects people as it gets played. In one of the book’s most powerful moments, Pärt plays the music to the Soviet border patrol when they ask to listen to tapes he wants to bring as he leaves the country.

The one element that may be lacking from this graphic novel, at least this edition, is some notes for unfamiliar readers. Since the book was written and illustrated by an artist in Pärt’s native country, it assumes readers have some knowledge of his work and Estonia’s Soviet history. American readers may miss some of the details, though they will easily pick up the main plot points. There are shocking censorship moments—for example, one friend suggests that Pärt dedicate a piece to a recent political
tragedy so that Soviet judges will have to treat it as a good piece. Another time, a critic describes Pärt’s music as not socialist in content nor nationalistic in tone. Readers familiar with the broad story of what was happening in most Soviet countries during the 1960s-1980s will understand the third act when he is highly regarded but no one is allowed to perform his works. But it would be nice to get some annotations by the translator to fill in the gaps—how Soviet Estonian leaders censored works, how
Estonia’s political climate reacted to changes in Moscow leadership.
Even if the book makes readers work a little bit to pick up the context, it remains a very compelling story. It’s also refreshing to see it being shared in English, exposing American readers to a story of a Christian artist that they likely aren’t familiar with.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5 stars):

4.5 out of 5 stars

Suggested Audience:

Leaders who are interested in Christianity and the Soviet era, and generally graphic novels that portray musicians’ lives.

Christian Impact:

Sildre does a great job of showing how Pärt’s faith (and the irony that his Jewish wife helps lead him to Eastern Orthodox Christianity) becomes key to his journey to become a groundbreaking musician.

Readers interested in similar books may also enjoy these graphic novels from Plough Publishing:

By Water: The Felix Manz Story

https://eclalibraries.org/2022/06/10/the-grand-inquisitor-a-graphic-novel-based-on-the-story-from-
fyodor-dostoyevskys-the-brothers-karamazov/

Freiheit!: The White Rose Graphic Novel

http://Amazon.com