This graphic novels takes you into the life of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, this was my introduction to his music which some I've heard prior unbeknownst to me. The graphic novel takes you through his life, on how he came to love music, his ups and downs with life, illness, social issues and communism and escaping from it, all while also being a true artist and a revolutionary to his own beat. In the few pages a lot was said and felt, not only did it educate me on part of world history I had no knowledge of but introduced me to a new wave of sounds that I'll be adding to my playlists, his music is an experience, a tale told and this graphic novel did an excellent job at translating that. I was given the chance to read this thanks to NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

I got an ARC of this book.

I have read almost every other book put out by this publisher. I was ready. This is by far my favorite. Not only is the art more approachable, the text is easier to read. It just worked so much better as a graphic novel than the others have. That alone made me devour this book.

The story was easy to follow, which is a huge plus in a biography. I will admit I have no idea who the composer was before I started reading. I was just excited to see another graphic novel from this publisher. I feel like I know a lot more and am very interested in his music. I ended up putting on youtube compilations of some of his work so I can maybe hear what was being described. It is still way beyond me, but the story did not suffer for my lack of musical knowledge.

I just really liked this book. It felt approachable. It felt well done. It really just worked as a graphic novel and as a biography. It was a wonderful read and I am glad I got a chance to read it. I will be recommending this to my people like like biographies or want to try non-fiction graphic novels.

This was interesting because it wasn't just about this guy, but Estonia and its history. I enjoy learning history by focusing on how events affected one person, and this was an interesting story. The artwork has an odd monochromatic style, and it's just as interesting as the words. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

It was interesting learning the composer. I enjoyed the set up of the novel. I enjoyed how the graphics displaying the music.

Since users of services such as Spotify no longer receive the extensive liner notes which used to accompany LPs and CDs of serious music, this book's information is valuable. I'm afraid, though, that in this case the graphic material doesn't contribute a great deal.

Between Two Sounds is a very innovative graphic novel. I loved the way the illustrations were laid out and how they cut across the page in creative ways. The art style was very nice as well.

Between Two Sounds by Joonas Sildre was a wonderful telling of part of Arvo Pärt’s life. The story was well written and easy to follow. From the beginning of his life to when he was sent out of Soviet controlled Estonia to him finally being allowed to return home, the story follows the arc of his music technique and personal religious philosophy. The depictions of the music, how he wanted it heard, and to some extent how he notated it were excellent. The author did a great job expressing the philosophy that Pärt wanted to express in his music.The illustrations overall are delightful and tell the story nicely. I highly recommend this book for all classical music lovers.

3.75 stars
🌕🌕🌕🌖

🎯 Target Audience
- People who are open to know more about Northern European musician
- Folks who are curious about the political environment in Estonia back in the days

🧠 My thoughts
Thanks to this graphic novel, I now know Arvo Pärt and his music. The artwork was amazing, it was easy to read and creative. Through the artwork, the author delivered the messages more comprehensively. It made the book more lyrical, poetic, and artistic.

There were not so many things I could complain about. Maybe the pace was too steady and there was quite a lot of information to digest, it lost my attention once in a while.

Thanks NetGalley, Plough Publising publisher, and the authors for a great advance copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!

Between Two Sounds is interesting both in terms of content and visually but I am not sure I really understood some of the musical ideas and elements.

The publishers description, however, is spot on: "paints an atmospheric portrait of a restless artist who does not shy away from confronting state control or his own internal contradictions." And that is really what came through to me, the sense that this remarkable artist was being smothered by the authoritarian politics and culture the Soviet Union imposed on Estonia. He was not free in his music, his faith, in the way he saw himself and the world, and so the travails of any artist pushing the boundaries was compounded by the pressure of living under the weight of authoritarianism.

This eventually led to Part being forced to leave his country, his friends and the world he knew for an unknown future in exile. That he was able to find such a future and become one of the most impactful musicians of his time is remarkable. And it is gratifying to know that he was eventually able to return home to Estonia. The story is likely most powerful for those interested in Estonia and/or music during this time but it is a reminder of the power of art and human creativity to break through the ugliness of tyranny.

Reading and reviewing a graphic novel about the life of Arvo Pärt was not on my NetGalley bingo card, but here we are. This fascinating book was written by Jones Sildre - who I assume also illustrated because there is no separate artist listed - and originally published by the Arvo Pärt Centre. It is now being released by Plough Publishing House in an English translation by Adam Cullen. I found it interesting that the original Estonian version was published in 2018, the same year the Pärt Centre opened to the public. This indicates to me how important to Pärt this book was (and is), and how much the composer felt it reflected his life.

In Between Two Sounds, we learn about Pärt's early call to music, his struggles with conformity, and his musical training. Initially, his career focused on film and recorded music, but throughout his life he continued to experiment with a style and form of music that pleased him. He found what he was looking for when he discovered the Russian Orthodox Church, and traced Christian musical expression down to what he felt was its essence, as found in Gregorian Chant. This led him to eventually develop his unique tintinnabuli style.

His life was also shaped by his relationship to the Soviet Union, which conquered Estonia in 1944. Refusing to give in to Soviet demands for nationalistic music composed under strict rules, he eventually was forced to emigrate to Austria, eventually returning to Estonia when its independence was restored in 2010.

The story is fascinating, but the book is even more interesting than a simple narrative would have been. The illustrations serve to illustrate Pärt's experimentation and composition in creative ways. Throughout, Pärt's thought process is central in a way that could only have been possible with the composer's intense collaboration.

Arvo Part, now in his late 80s, has been through most of the 2000s the most performed living composer in the world (surpassed in 2019 by John Williams). I had been familiar with his work, but this wonderful book gave me new insights. Many thanks to Plough and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am not usually that much into fiction that discusses religion extensively and surprisingly this was one of those books, as this was a key element in Arvo Pärt’s life. Despite that, the execution of the book is outstanding, in my opinion, as it's a great source when it comes to learning about the history, the artist and the process of creating art.

The book has amazing artwork, not through the style itself, but due to the representation of musical elements. I would say that it is very creative and it really places the reader inside the story - and it's even more exciting if paired with the pieces of the composer.

There are also many great quotes that are really inspirational - about art:

"In truth, art is nothing more than the shaping of ideas or intellectual values into an artistic form; their expression by artistic means."

"If a composer wants to create music, then he must love every sound."

"Man is not a creator of sounds, but their mediator."

"The human voice is one of the most perfect musical instruments on Earth. And that instrument must be tuned... Man's soul is what must be tuned!"

"It is a need to concentrate on each sound... just like on every blade of grass... so that every blade of grass becomes as important as a flower."

- and about life in general:

"Conscience is, perhaps, a person's greatest teacher. The way you see yourself. What you are not, but what you would like to be."

"To be born to peace, you must die to disquiet."

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The art was well suited to the story it was telling and I really liked the way the whole book was formatted. I’d never heard of Arvo Pärt prior to reading this and knew very little about Estonia other than its geographical location so everything was new. I found this didn’t take away from my enjoyment at all, there’s enough information that I felt informed without being overwhelmed. I’m listening to Für Alina as I write this review and it’s cool to know the backstory for it. Overall highly recommend! I am counting this as Country #43 for Read Around the World challenge :)

Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher, and the Author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

"Between Two Sounds: Arvo Pärt's Journey to His Musical Language" by Aile Tooming explores the life of a visionary composer who found his unique voice in the silence between sounds.

The graphic novel introduces how historical and life events shaped and affected Arvo Pärt. A visual language for sound throughout the book, such as reoccurring lines and circles convey the feeling of the composer's music.

The art and flow of the panels is captivating, informative and inspiring.

I had heard some of Arvo Part's choral music before reading this book, but knew very little about this composer or his work. So, I pulled up the music mentioned in this lovely graphic biography and listened as I read, an experience I highly recommend. The artwork in this book is clever and does a great job of telling this story, even conveying a sense of the music and sounds the story is in part about. I really enjoyed this book, and the excuse to explore music by this excellent composer.

Following Arvo Pärt's journey thought life and music.

This graphic novel is easy to follow, beautifully illustrated and so worth a read.

Thank you Plough Publishing House for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
#BetweenTwoSounds #NetGalley.

The world’s greatest living composer, born into an Estonia that is absorbed into the Soviet Union. This book covers Arvo Part’s struggle under the communist regime as he transitions from avant garde iconoclast into a purveyor of music that elevates holiness and has a through line to the world’s oldest existing Christian music. Eventually morphing these two polar opposites into a style of music all his own. While he pursues these dreams he must contend with a government and an academy that has little appreciation for his developing sound.

I didn't know who Arvo Pärt was before reading this book. In fact, I didn't know any Estonian composers. This graphic novel goes through his life, his thoughts and his way of understanding music. In the context of the Soviet Union, it also portrays the censorship that most artists suffered during that time. I found this to be quite an interesting read, since I love learning about topics I don't know much about. Still, I also found it a little bit dense sometimes, and I maybe would have enjoyed knowing more about his personal life (how he felt about his children, etc.). One thing I really appreciated is how music and sounds are graphically included in the book.

Between Two Sounds: Arvo Pärt’s Journey to His Musical Language (2024) by Joonas Sildre, is a wonderful graphic biography of an quietly astonishing minimalist classical composer. In a world of increasing (maximalist) noise and terror, he calls us forth to get small, listen, be still. I am familiar with his story and music thanks to a friend, T, so I especially enjoyed it. I also am a proponent of less is more, except in my long reviews, of course.

Arvo Pärt is a (formerly Soviet) Estonian composer who, because of restrictions by the Soviet government, was discouraged from composing and performing what were perceived to be “modernist” (non-conformist) (classical) music, and religious music, so he also composed music for film and the stage. He was born in 1935 and is as of today 88 years old. This graphics biography highlights a turning point in the seventies when Pärt’s work turned more minimalist, his music focusing on the production of sound, or more pointedly, the moment a note is played, when there is that silence “between two sounds” which I take to be a constructivist principle, where the listener co-constructs the music. He was inspired by his secret exploration of early music from the Renaissance.

You never heard of him? From 2011 to 2018, and again in 2022, Pärt was the most performed living composer in the world, and the second most performed in 2019, after John Williams. The Arvo Pärt Centre, in Laulasmaa, was opened to the public in 2018.
The challenge in a musician biography is of course that the artist must convey the sound on the page, and Sildre does this playfully, attempting to capture the passionate intensity of Part’s experience with sound and music. He leaves a lot of space on the page, in keeping with Pärt ‘s minimalism, for us to breathe and reflect with him.

“You must treat every sound as if it were a human soul.”
“Sound exists. Man is a mediator, not a creator.”
“Wisdom lies in reduction.”
“You work on yourself and the composition follows.”

Renunciation, order, purity. Pärt heard the Gregorian chants for the first time and it opened up avenues for him compositionally and spiritually. He was exiled for many years but was not really a dissident, and when Soviet rule finally ended, he and his wife returned to Estonia to live. I connect his minimalism with Thomas Merton’s Trappist vow of silence. And his creative impulse in a leap of faith to Kierkegaard.

“Words are a relatively poor means of expression. I believe I have within me that which can conduct deeper matters.”
“I know a great secret. But I only know it through music.”

Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ6Mzvh3XCc

Thanks to NetGalley, Plough Publishing, and the author Joonas Sildre, for an early look at this ms, due out September 2024.

From a very young age, Arvo Part showed a propensity for music, and while he didn't do well in most classes, he excelled at music and soon rose to prominence at his music schools. He served in the military for a time and experienced some setbacks with his health. Eventually, he began work composing pieces that were both novel and true to what he really wanted to say, despite negative feedback from the political and cultural gatekeepers.

This story is easy to read and told well in graphic novel format. While it was quite impossible to keep all the characters straight (despite the convenient cast of characters in the back of the book), it was not difficult to understand the undercurrent of need that drove Arvo to continue to create and compose. The story is biased, of course, but it also feels very open to differing viewpoints. I was left curious about a few things, but I felt satisfied with the ending. The religious references felt essential and not overpowering, showing the link between faith and inspiration in Part's work. Overall, this isn't a terribly exciting novel, but it does a satisfactory job showing historical fact and creating an authentic mood.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

One of the awkward things with doing a graphic novel about a musical person is portraying music. Here, too, you have a kind of religious epiphany to get on the page. Well, the music in this look at Estonian Part (can't do accents) is like a weight on a pendulum, but horizontal – like a ball of mystical energy guiding its stave-like line across the scene. It's always over people's heads, but it gets to touch them. And when an early Part piece is performed by the orchestra concerned the balls are clearly weaponised – this before he matures, finds Gregorian plainchant, researches early church music as much as he can in an officially atheist state, and sees the intervals between the notes of as much import as the notes themselves.

Reading this is like seeing a movie with mute on, for you never really get that much semblance of what his sounds are like, even if it's 'personified' very well with the fluid stave-like things I mentioned. But at least we can google such stuff, and at least we don't have a Basil Exposition to tell his fellow concert-goer, in lieu of telling us, what he'd just heard. This is a fuller biography than just the works, though – all the illuminating tutors, all the set-backs and resulting cartoon soundtracks, all the influences from those ahead of him in Estonian musical hierarchy – this is all there too. He asks a street worker (not that kind, a snow-shoveller) how to compose. A girl suggests he thank God for the times his creativity does not work.

It's pretty readable stuff, mind, and never once seemed wordy. I would hazard a guess that, even with it being about a rarefied subject, the general stereotypical Clapham Omnibus reader would gain something from a browse. Fans will have a greater chance of recognising the text as his quoted words or otherwise, and all will see this as a story of a man who had to battle his state's religion, his expected place in musical society and his own self to get to where he has been these last few decades. This could have been a verbose plod, but instead is a lively study of a man, and whether you know every note of his or none the quality here is quite evident. A strong four stars.