What made Arvo Pärt the most performed living composer in the world?

«Between Two Sounds» recounts the life of composer Arvo Pärt from his birth in Estonia in 1935 through 1980, when the Soviet government forced him to emigrate because of the nonconformist and religious nature of his music. Based on years of research and close collaboration with Arvo Pärt himself, Joonas Sildre's graphic novel paints an atmospheric portrait of a restless artist who does not shy away from confronting state control and his own internal contradictions.

Arvo Pärt 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, originally published in Estonian, will appeal not only to fans of Arvo Pärt's music but to anyone who has known the struggle to remain true to oneself whatever the cost.

Joonas Sildre is an Estonian comic artist, illustrator, and graphic designer who specializes in biographical books.