Arvo Pärt - by Peter C Bouteneff & Jeffers Engelhardt & Robert Saler (Paperback)

About the Book

"Scholarly writing on the music of Arvo Pèart is situated primarily in the fields of musicology, cultural and media studies, and, more recently, in terms of theology/spirituality. Arvo Pèart: Sounding the Sacred focuses on the representational dimensions of Pèart's music (including the trope of silence), writing and listening past the fact that its storied effects and affects are carried first and foremost as vibrations through air, impressing themselves on the human body. In response, this ambitiously interdisciplinary volume asks: What of sound and materiality as embodiments of the sacred, as historically specific artifacts, and as elements of creation deeply linked to the human sensorium in Pèart studies? In taking up these questions, the book 'de-Platonizes' Pèart studies by demystifying the notion of a single 'Pèart sound.' It offers innovative, critical analyses of the historical contexts of Pèart's experimentation, medievalism, and diverse creative work; it re-sounds the acoustic, theological, and representational grounds of silence in Pèart's music; it listens with critical openness to the intersections of theology, sacred texts, and spirituality in Pèart's music; and it positions sensing, performing bodies at the center of musical experience. Building on the conventional score-, biography-, and media-based approaches, this volume reframes Pèart studies around the materiality of sound, its sacredness, and its embodied resonances within secular spaces." --Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

Scholarly writing on the music of Arvo Pärt is situated primarily in the fields of musicology, cultural and media studies, and, more recently, in terms of theology/spirituality. Arvo Pärt: Sounding the Sacred focuses on the representational dimensions of Pärt's music (including the trope of silence), writing and listening past the fact that its storied effects and affects are carried first and foremost as vibrations through air, impressing themselves on the human body. In response, this ambitiously interdisciplinary volume asks: What of sound and materiality as embodiments of the sacred, as historically specific artifacts, and as elements of creation deeply linked to the human sensorium in Pärt studies? In taking up these questions, the book "de-Platonizes" Pärt studies by demystifying the notion of a single "Pärt sound." It offers innovative, critical analyses of the historical contexts of Pärt's experimentation, medievalism, and diverse creative work; it re-sounds the acoustic, theological, and representational grounds of silence in Pärt's music; it listens with critical openness to the intersections of theology, sacred texts, and spirituality in Pärt's music; and it positions sensing, performing bodies at the center of musical experience. Building on the conventional score-, biography-, and media-based approaches, this volume reframes Pärt studies around the materiality of sound, its sacredness, and its embodied resonances within secular spaces.

Review Quotes

. . .[T]his is a rich collection of studies expanding our understanding of Pärt's music and the late Soviet conditions in which it arose.-- "Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies"

This is a thorough and impressive attempt to challenge de-materialised readings of Pärt's music, concentrating especially on the sheer physicality of sound and hearing. It is likely to set new directions in studies of this beguiling composer, and open up fresh avenues in the wider field of music and theology.---Jeremy Begbie, Duke University

That Pärt's music appears to have an aspect that transcends description seems self-evident to many listeners. But the question of how--or if--music can embody or represent the spiritual has always been fraught with difficulty. This collection of interdisciplinary essays makes bold strides toward a further understanding of how Pärt might sculpt sound into such ethereal experience.-- "Choice"

About the Author

Peter C. Bouteneff (Edited By)
Peter C. Bouteneff is Professor of Systematic Theology at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he also directs the Institute of Sacred Arts and the Arvo Pärt Project. He is the author of Arvo Pärt: Out of Silence (SVS Press, 2015).

Jeffers Engelhardt (Edited By)
Jeffers Engelhardt is Associate Professor of Music at Amherst College. His research deals broadly with music, religion, European identity, and media. His books include Singing the Right Way: Orthodox Christians and Secular Enchantment in Estonia (Oxford, 2015) and the co-edited volume Resounding Transcendence: Transitions in Music, Religion, and Ritual (Oxford, 2016).

Robert Saler (Edited By)
Robert Saler is Research Professor of Religion and Culture and Associate Dean at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, where he also serves as Executive Director of the Center for Pastoral Excellence. He is the author of Between Magisterium and Marketplace (Fortress, 2014), Theologia Crucis (Cascade, 2016), and All These Things into Position: What Theology Can Learn from Radiohead (Cascade, 2019).