
The Past Is Always Present
The Revival of the Byzantine Musical Tradition at Mount Athos
Tore Tvarno Lind(Author)
Scarecrow Press
Published on 30. December 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
262 pages
978-0-8108-8147-1 (ISBN)
Description
In The Past Is Always Present, Tore Tvarno Lind examines the musical revival of Greek Orthodox chant at the monastery of Vatopaidi within the monastic society of Mount Athos, Greece. In particular, Lind focuses on the musical activities at the monastery and the meaning of the past in the monks' efforts at improving their musical performance practice through an emphasis on tradition.
Based on a decade of intense fieldwork and extensive interviews with members of Athos' monastic community, Lind covers a vast array of topics. From musical notation and the Greek oral tradition to CD covers and music production, the tension between tradition and modernity in the musical activity of the Athonite community raises a clear challenge to the quest to bring together Orthodox spirituality and quietude with musical production. The Past Is Always Present addresses all of these matters by focusing on the significance and meaning of the local chanting style. As Lind argues, Byzantine chant cannot be fully grasped in musicological terms alone, outside the context of prayer. Yet because chant is fundamentally a way of communicating with God, the sound generated must be exactly right, pushing issues of music notation, theory, and performance practice to the forefront.
Byzantine chant, Lind ultimately argues, is a modern phenomenon as the monastic communities of Mount Athos negotiate with the realities of modern Orthodox identity in Greece. By reporting on the musical revival activities of this remarkable community through the topics of notation, musical theory, drone-singing, and spiritual silence, Lind looks at the ways in which Athonite heritage is shaped, touching upon the Byzantine chant's contemporary relationship with practice of pilgrimage and the phenomenon of religious tourism.
Offering unique insights into the monastic culture at Mount Athos, The Past Is Always Present is for those especially interested in sacred music, past and present Greek culture, monastic life, religious tourism, and the fields of ethnomusicology and anthropology.
Based on a decade of intense fieldwork and extensive interviews with members of Athos' monastic community, Lind covers a vast array of topics. From musical notation and the Greek oral tradition to CD covers and music production, the tension between tradition and modernity in the musical activity of the Athonite community raises a clear challenge to the quest to bring together Orthodox spirituality and quietude with musical production. The Past Is Always Present addresses all of these matters by focusing on the significance and meaning of the local chanting style. As Lind argues, Byzantine chant cannot be fully grasped in musicological terms alone, outside the context of prayer. Yet because chant is fundamentally a way of communicating with God, the sound generated must be exactly right, pushing issues of music notation, theory, and performance practice to the forefront.
Byzantine chant, Lind ultimately argues, is a modern phenomenon as the monastic communities of Mount Athos negotiate with the realities of modern Orthodox identity in Greece. By reporting on the musical revival activities of this remarkable community through the topics of notation, musical theory, drone-singing, and spiritual silence, Lind looks at the ways in which Athonite heritage is shaped, touching upon the Byzantine chant's contemporary relationship with practice of pilgrimage and the phenomenon of religious tourism.
Offering unique insights into the monastic culture at Mount Athos, The Past Is Always Present is for those especially interested in sacred music, past and present Greek culture, monastic life, religious tourism, and the fields of ethnomusicology and anthropology.
Reviews / Votes
This is a most enjoyable, well-written and highly interesting volume, as well as a valuable document of a sympathetically but astutely observed, venerable tradition; and it may moreover be warmly recommended for a wide readership. The volume includes a CD recording of musical excerpts, closely related to some of the musical examples cited in the text and helpfully presented in both Western and Byzantine notational systems. * Parresia: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Lanham, MD
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
With dust jacket
Illustrations
15 Halftones, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
581 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8108-8147-1 (9780810881471)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Tore Tvarno Lind
The Past Is Always Present
The Revival of the Byzantine Musical Tradition at Mount Athos
E-Book
12/2011
1st Edition
Scarecrow Press
€119.99
Available for download

Tore Tvarno Lind
The Past Is Always Present
The Revival of the Byzantine Musical Tradition at Mount Athos
E-Book
12/2011
1st Edition
Scarecrow Press
€119.99
Available for download
Person
Tore Tvarno Lind is a Danish ethnomusicologist. He has done fieldwork at Mount Athos on Orthodox chant and in Copenhagen on heterodox healing practices with music.