Description
Between Two Sounds follows the life of world-famous composer Arvo Part from his birth in Estonia in 1935 through 1980, when the Soviets forced him to emigrate because of the nonconformist and religious nature of his music.
Based on years of research and close collaboration with Arvo Part himself, Joonas Sildre paints an atmospheric portrait of a restless artist who does not shy away from confronting state control or his own internal contradictions.
Arvo Part stormed Soviet-occupied Estonia's music scene in the 1960s as a brash young man pushing the limits of avant-garde modernism. Then he fell silent, no longer able to express what he felt through the musical language he had inherited. When he reemerged a decade later, he had found, in that silence between sounds, a new musical language inspired by ancient sacred music, the basis of his distinctive tintinnabuli technique. This graphic novel will appeal not just to fans of Arvo Part's music but to anyone who has known the struggle to remain true to oneself whatever the cost.
- The Arvo Part Centre will promote the book
- Events in conjunction with the US Estonian community
- Feature in Plough Quarterly, circulation 16,000
- Featured on Plough's website, 500,000 monthly visitors
- National publicity campaign
About the Author
Joonas Sildre is an Estonian comic artist, illustrator, and graphic designer who specializes in biographical books. Adam Cullen is a freelance translator of Estonian prose, poetry, and drama.
Reviews
"Joonas Sildre employs an imaginative and narrative force in his clear, reduced images - images that exploit empty space in the way Arvo Part's music exploits silence." -Nick Sternitzke, WRD 3
"This book is an invitation to understand Arvo Part and his seemingly simple compositions, which have baffled the music critics but cast a spell over audiences." -Ralf Julke, Leipziger Zeitung
"This extraordinary book, with its interplay of calm and dynamic, goes along well with Part's music. It brings fans closer to Arvo Part as a person and will make the uninitiated curious." -Dorothea Husslein, SWR 2
"For fans a thoroughly successful homage and for others a very good introduction that invites you to step into the magical cathedrals of Part's music." -Thomas Boehm, Radio Eins
"Sildre finds exciting ways to graphically depict music that shouldn't be missed." -Casten Jaehner, Comic Couch
"Part seeks silence in music, and Sildre creates this silence in the pictures." -Gregor Lilla, Elet es Irodalom
Book Information
ISBN 9781636081342
Author Joonas Sildre
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Plough Publishing House
Publisher Plough Publishing House
