Arvo Pärt's White Light
Media, Culture, Politics

The first substantial volume in English to explore the impact of Arvo Pärt on contemporary music and culture.

Laura Dolp (Edited by)

9781316633953, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2019

282 pages, 27 b/w illus. 2 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.65 kg

'This diverse collection of essays from a team of Pärt scholars, led by Laura Dolp, strongly advances the understanding of Pärt's music while filling gaps in current scholarship and grappling with the various, often erroneous, perceptions of the composer and his music.' Thomas Robinson, Notes

One of the most frequently performed contemporary composers, Arvo Pärt has become a phenomenon whose unusual reach is felt well beyond the concert hall. This ground-breaking collection of essays investigates both the causes and the effects of this success. Beyond the rhetoric of 'holy minimalism' that has accompanied the composer's reception since the mid-1980s, each chapter takes a fresh approach toward understanding how Pärt's music has occupied social landscapes. The result is a dynamic conversation among filmgoers (who explore issues of empathy and resemblance), concertgoers (commerce and art), listeners (embodiment, healing and the role of technology), activists (legacies of resistance) and performers (performance practice). Collectively, these studies offer a bold and thoughtful engagement with Pärt as a major cultural figure and reflect on the unprecedented impact of his music.

1. Introduction Laura Dolp
2. Empathy and tintinnabuli music in film Maria Cizmic
3. Pärt and the sound of one hand clapping Robert Sholl
4. Pärt and the experience of the neutral Sander van Maas
5. Ethos and the industry of culture Laura Dolp
6. An ethnography of spirituality Kythe Heller
7. Politics and protest Michael Palmese
8. Sonic embodiment C. J. May
9. Performing Pärt Andrew Shenton.

Subject Areas: Popular culture [JFCA], European history [HBJD], Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups [AVH], Theory of music & musicology [AVA]