Laura Dolp

White Light on Arvo Pärt, but Typos Lurk in the Shadows.

"Arvo Pärt's White Light: Media, Culture, Politics" lives up to its title by presenting a wide-ranging selection of essays on how the contemporary composer's work has had an impact in subject areas that range through film & dance music, hospice care, the use of musical art as a political tool and performance practice. The variety of intriguing topics and writers (some of whom have earlier books of direct or related interest to their credit) definitely earns this collection a 5-star rating.

I was however disappointed to see several examples of poor fact-checking and/or copy editing which did mar the overall scholarly effect. Some of these were of easily checkable names and dates and were of a nature that those familiar with Pärt and his associates would identify quite readily, e.g. the long-time countertenor David James of the Hilliard Ensemble and soloist/dedicatee of Pärt's "My Heart's in the Highlands" is called "David Jones" (sic), Björk's classic 1997 interview with the composer is misdated as a "2012 interview" (sic). As there are hundreds of other names and dates provided throughout the book, there may very well be others equally incorrect that I simply didn't recognize. Such is the lingering problem with a tiny amount of spoilage. So if you are going to use this present book as a reference, it would be best to confirm any facts and sources with some additional research.

It doesn't take any fact-checking however to see that e.g. a sentence about Pärt's piano & orchestral work Lamentate written as "Why then this insistence on found pitch material, which the stylistically variegated surface of the work arguably does not to demand?" should probably have ended as "does not demand?" or that the phrase "the massage of pacifism" should probably have been "the message of pacifism."

Qualifier: This review is based on the eBook edition released in June 2017. There is always a chance that the hardcover edition expected in September 2017 from Cambridge University Press will correct various typos and copyediting errors. Once I have had a chance to examine a print edition I will update my review accordingly (likely in October 2017).

Table of Contents with additional notes of writer's related works.
1. Introduction by the editor Laura Dolp.
2. Empathy and Tintinnabuli Music in Film by Maria Cizmic, author of "Performing Pain: Music and Trauma in Eastern Europe."
3. Pärt and the Sound of One Hand Clapping by Robert Sholl, co-editor of "Contemporary Music and Spirituality" with Sander Van Maas.
4. Pärt and the Experience of the Neutral by Sander Van Maas, co-editor of the above with Robert Sholl.
5. Ethos and the Industry of Culture by Laura Dolp.
6. An Ethnography of Spirituality by Kythe Heller.
7. Politics and Protest by Michael Palmese.
8. Sonic Embodiment by C. J. May.
9. Performing Pärt by Andrew Shenton, editor of "The Cambridge Companion to Arvo Part."… (lisätietoja)