Between Two Sounds

Starred review from June 10, 2024
Sildre (Messages from Ukraine) delivers a lyrical ode to composer Arvo Pärt that translates the minimalist beauty and power of Pärt’s music to the page. Born in Estonia in 1935, Pärt grows up in a nation occupied alternately by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. As a young composer, he experiments with avant-garde styles and strict formalism (“I believe it’s possible to give every mathematical equation a musical form,” he tells a journalist). Later, his interest in Gregorian chant transforms his art and his life: he infuses his music with a sense of the sacred, develops his signature tintinnabuli form, and, with his second wife and creative partner, Nora, converts to the Orthodox church. Neither the modernist nor the religious aspects of Pärt’s music sit well with Soviet censors—after being blacklisted and blocked from leaving the country, he sardonically defends himself in court while costumed as a “dissident” in a hippie wig. Sildre’s sepia-toned linework, with touches of mid-century modern abstraction, harmonizes with Pärt’s revolutionary blend of sacred humanism and formalist modernity. As Pärt strives toward artistic and spiritual purity, driven by the conviction that “evil itself is destroyed when it encounters love,” his music is visualized in dots and lines that swoop around listeners or stab at their hearts. Lovers of art and music will be inspired.

June 1, 2024
As a young boy, twentieth-century minimalist composer Arvo P�rt's home country of Estonia fell under Soviet control. In his career, P�rt was influenced by Gregorian chants and Renaissance choral works, and he created orchestral pieces honoring other composers. As he aged and felt a deeper connection to religion; his compositions reflect this. He is credited with developing a style called tintinnabulation, reminiscent of ringing bells. In 1980, P�rt, his wife, and two young children emigrated from the Soviet Union due to their dissatisfaction with the government. Music is illustrated throughout this graphic novel with lines and circles, similar to notes on a staff but without a clear format. Art is black and white with a taupe background, which seems fitting to the strict Soviet ideas being placed upon creative people in the USSR. There is little segue between portions of P�rt's life, so sometimes the reading feels somewhat choppy and rushed to get to the next big event. Readers without a musical background may struggle to understand the terminology used throughout the book.

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August 2, 2024

To create this book, illustrator Sildre (Messages from Ukraine) conducted research for roughly 10 years and collaborated with Arvo P�rt, the Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Now 88, P�rt is the world's second most performed living composer. With minimal text and occasional wordless panels, this book covers his life from 1935 to 1980, in a palette of black, white, an earthy mushroom shade, and a cement hue. Giving mathematical equations a musical form, P�rt invented tintinnabuli, which unites the melody and a three-note chord into one ensemble, including vocal compositions. Music's shown in two ways: filled-in black circles that progress in size on scales or zigzags--flowy like music--or as lines that curve up or down like cursive. A person of faith, he believes each sound is to be treated like a human soul. But religion was considered against the Soviet regime. In 1980, he and his family were forced to immigrate to Vienna. When Estonia regained its independence in 1991, his work was celebrated. "The Cast" section at the end, with images of every person mentioned, is mindful of a playbill. VERDICT A remarkable tale that's enriched with few words and plenty of neutral-toned illustrations. It beautifully spotlights movement and the music of P�rt.--Jill Cox-Cordova

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