Singing the Right Way
Orthodox Christians and Secular Enchantment in Estonia
Jeffers Engelhardt
Reviews and Awards
"In this remarkable book, with its abundant musical scores, photographs and audio recordings on a companion website, ethnomusicologist Jeffers Engelhardt enables us to listen in to the wide diapason of sounds and styles which have come to be considered 'right singing' in Orthodox communities in Estonia... The book is intensely human and by the time we come to the end, many of the singers and choir leaders we encounter have almost become our friends, as they obviously have for the author." -- Alison Ruth Kolosova , Sobornost/ Eastern Churches Review
"Engelhardt masterfully interweaves historical, political, ethnographic, and musicological materials and insights into a consistent whole that reveals many facets of everyday life in post-Soviet Estonia." --Sebastian Rimestad, University of Erfurt, Journal of Baltic Studies
"Singing the Right Way is a cutting-edge ethnography opening new areas of research on the stylistics of music in Orthodox Estonia. This book will quickly assume pride of place on many bookshelves." -- Gregory Barz, Alexander Heard Distinguished Professor, Vanderbilt University
"Engelhardt contributes a detailed ethnography of Estonian Orthodox singing to further our understanding of music and religion in a post-socialist European context. It highlights the importance of singing in liturgical experience and charts musical, religious and political transitions." --Tina K. Ramnarine, Professor of Music, Royal Holloway University of London
"[H]andsomely produced in all respects, filling a gap with enthusiasm about its subject. The author's fieldwork in a small part of Estonia is thorough."--The Musical Times
"Engelhardt has studied Estonian Orthodox singing with the utmost care and dedication, including, significantly, the lived faith of Orthodox believers - the everyday rituals that Orthodox Christians in Estonia practice. Magically, Engelhardt's work makes the transformations of congregations and singing in the Orthodox Church of Estonia visible and audible to readers, opening up the different worlds and ideologies of a small community under a microscope's lens."--Res Musica, Journal of the Estonian Musicological Society
"The book is clear and focused throughout, but Engelhardt is at his most engaging in the ethnographic passages"--CritCom
"In Singing the Right Way, Engelhardt achieves an extensively researched, innovative perspective on facets of communal singing, elements of style as social identifiers, and choral music as an agent of religious expression."--Slavic and East European Journal
"Engelhardt does excellent work in analysing the secular enchantment of Orthodoxy, effected by national ideologies and identities and political endeavours, and the reflexivity of identity and singing the right way at different historical and political moments...Engelhardt's mastery of the complexities and multiple dimensions of his topic and sources proves his skill. His vivid language and humorous remarks bring to life the sounds, smells, tastes and landscapes Engelhardt describes, and gives voice to people whose stories he is telling...The story Engelhardt tells is not only a story of ethnomusicology, or Orthodoxy, or Orthodox singing, but a story of resiliences and continuity of a living tradition and spirituality, and much more. Therefore, whatever your field, I recommend that you read this book."--The International Society for Orthodox Church Music Journal