Talks by John Forrestal
"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a film about the music that accompanies muay Thai, a style of kickbo... more "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a film about the music that accompanies muay Thai, a style of kickboxing from Thailand. A musical tradition heretofore undocumented in English-language literature, this documentary is the first of its kind to explore this music at great length. Coalescing under the fluorescent lights are the gambling-fueled economies of underground sports and expertly-performed traditional and folk music. Yet the tensions between music and violence are of no affront to musicians or boxers; rather, these tensions are at the symbolic, sacred core of this musical tradition.
This film looks at the ways that tradition, music, tourism, and boxing are entangled within the historic city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. It explores the origins and history of muay and its music. It concludes with nuanced conversations between Bangkok and Chiang Mai musicians over ownership, authority, standardization, and Lanna and Thai nationalism. This film also sheds light on regional musical traditions that are at risk of being lost. It looks at the differences in musical or cultural representation between boxing stadia, and the incentives and inspirations that are responsible for those decisions. How northern—or how central—might one wish to sound? It challenges the idea, “what should muay Thai sound like,” and argues, “what can muay Thai sound like?”
Through fieldwork, interviews, and musical demonstrations, this film foregrounds the complexities of Thai identity and ‘Thainess’ that arise from the interactions of music and sport. The film is in English and Thai with subtitles, and run-time is 45 minutes.
Conference Presentations by John Forrestal
Papers by John Forrestal
"Arvo Pärt is a contemporary sacred composer who is recognized for developing what he has referre... more "Arvo Pärt is a contemporary sacred composer who is recognized for developing what he has referred to as the ‘tintinnabuli’ compositional technique. His tintinnabuli technique has led him to great success both in and outside of the Classical music world. Although a self-professed Orthodox Christian (to which he converted in 1972), he has composed choral works for Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican services.
In the year 2000, Pärt composed the work Orient and Occident for string orchestra. The work is a wordless tintinnabuli setting of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Its idiosyncratic use of dissonance, string techniques, and modal vocabulary is atypical of his tintinnabuli works. Several reviews suggest that Orient and Occident shares similarities with Near-Eastern music, or the characteristics of Islamic cantillation. Throughout Pärt’s compositional career, he has declined to comment in depth on his own spirituality, and he has left it to his audience to draw their own conclusions. He has suggested letting the music “speak for itself,” as a symbol to convey his own inner spiritual thoughts. I suggest that Orient and Occident is an exposition of his own inner Orthodoxy, and a musical mediation of his Orthodox faith in relation to other faiths, Christian or otherwise.
This thesis considers the ways in which we view Pärt as mediator for sacred music in a secular, postmodern environment, through Orient and Occident and historical perspectives of the icon in Byzantine Orthodox traditions. It examines the broader connotations of Pärt, the icon, and spirituality; providing insights into his 2010 performance in Istanbul. It examines the ‘aural architecturality’ of tintinnabulation, through hermeneutic and phenomenological theories surrounding iconography and light mysticism. It tackles the notions of ‘catholicity’ and ecumenicity with which the world has come to know Pärt; from the lens of his Orthodox faith, and extending outwards across geographical, cultural, political, and spiritual borders."
The Process Church of the Final Judgment (1964-1974) was a Scientological offshoot created by tw... more The Process Church of the Final Judgment (1964-1974) was a Scientological offshoot created by two former members of the London branch. Their experimentations with psychotherapy led to the development of an incredibly tight-knit group of followers, who subsequently made a pilgrimage to the Yucatàn peninsula of Mexico where a natural disaster imbued their collective spirituality with apocalyptic reinterpretations of Christian theology. Upon returning to London and the States, the Process took their eschatological message to the streets. The Process' religious canon contained a large musical output; rock bands within the cult developed out of collective musical energies, in addition to hymns and chants that served a Utilitarian purpose. Members of the Process were contiguously in the same social circles as many famous musicians, such as Mick Jagger. Thus, their influence can be seen in the popular musical idioms of their time, although there’s little mentioned in biographical accounts about their influence.
Over three decades since the schism that marked the end of the Process, their teachings ostensibly live on today, through a musical collective known as Holy Terror, and through a band “the Sabbath Assembly” reinterpreting the hymns of the Process. My intention is to recreate the historical framework of this unique religious movement, especially the cross-relationships between it and the popular music of their time. Upon providing a solid foundation, my intent is to explore the lineage and re-adaptation of Processean ideology in this contemporary musical milieu, and the processes of change that take place in the religious tenets intrinsic to Processean thought and the mindsets of contemporaneous re-interpreters. I also intend to explore Holy Terrorism within its subcultural context, and its relation to a larger global narrative–particularly the over sensationalized eschatological concepts that are inextricably intertwined in the moral, political, and sociological fabrics of mainstream contemporary society.
Fundamental history of Arvo Pärt and his musical background; Discussion of the development of his... more Fundamental history of Arvo Pärt and his musical background; Discussion of the development of his tintinnabuli period, analysis of Berliner Messe (text setting, iconography, use of silence and space, phrasing, dynamics, range, coloristic changes, melodic contour and motivic material.)
Teaching Documents by John Forrestal
Syllabus for MH620, a graduate-level course on Minimalism in music and the arts and its relevance... more Syllabus for MH620, a graduate-level course on Minimalism in music and the arts and its relevance to society today.
Taught for two semesters at Boston University (SP16 and SP17).
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Talks by John Forrestal
This film looks at the ways that tradition, music, tourism, and boxing are entangled within the historic city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. It explores the origins and history of muay and its music. It concludes with nuanced conversations between Bangkok and Chiang Mai musicians over ownership, authority, standardization, and Lanna and Thai nationalism. This film also sheds light on regional musical traditions that are at risk of being lost. It looks at the differences in musical or cultural representation between boxing stadia, and the incentives and inspirations that are responsible for those decisions. How northern—or how central—might one wish to sound? It challenges the idea, “what should muay Thai sound like,” and argues, “what can muay Thai sound like?”
Through fieldwork, interviews, and musical demonstrations, this film foregrounds the complexities of Thai identity and ‘Thainess’ that arise from the interactions of music and sport. The film is in English and Thai with subtitles, and run-time is 45 minutes.
Conference Presentations by John Forrestal
Papers by John Forrestal
In the year 2000, Pärt composed the work Orient and Occident for string orchestra. The work is a wordless tintinnabuli setting of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Its idiosyncratic use of dissonance, string techniques, and modal vocabulary is atypical of his tintinnabuli works. Several reviews suggest that Orient and Occident shares similarities with Near-Eastern music, or the characteristics of Islamic cantillation. Throughout Pärt’s compositional career, he has declined to comment in depth on his own spirituality, and he has left it to his audience to draw their own conclusions. He has suggested letting the music “speak for itself,” as a symbol to convey his own inner spiritual thoughts. I suggest that Orient and Occident is an exposition of his own inner Orthodoxy, and a musical mediation of his Orthodox faith in relation to other faiths, Christian or otherwise.
This thesis considers the ways in which we view Pärt as mediator for sacred music in a secular, postmodern environment, through Orient and Occident and historical perspectives of the icon in Byzantine Orthodox traditions. It examines the broader connotations of Pärt, the icon, and spirituality; providing insights into his 2010 performance in Istanbul. It examines the ‘aural architecturality’ of tintinnabulation, through hermeneutic and phenomenological theories surrounding iconography and light mysticism. It tackles the notions of ‘catholicity’ and ecumenicity with which the world has come to know Pärt; from the lens of his Orthodox faith, and extending outwards across geographical, cultural, political, and spiritual borders."
Over three decades since the schism that marked the end of the Process, their teachings ostensibly live on today, through a musical collective known as Holy Terror, and through a band “the Sabbath Assembly” reinterpreting the hymns of the Process. My intention is to recreate the historical framework of this unique religious movement, especially the cross-relationships between it and the popular music of their time. Upon providing a solid foundation, my intent is to explore the lineage and re-adaptation of Processean ideology in this contemporary musical milieu, and the processes of change that take place in the religious tenets intrinsic to Processean thought and the mindsets of contemporaneous re-interpreters. I also intend to explore Holy Terrorism within its subcultural context, and its relation to a larger global narrative–particularly the over sensationalized eschatological concepts that are inextricably intertwined in the moral, political, and sociological fabrics of mainstream contemporary society.
Teaching Documents by John Forrestal
Taught for two semesters at Boston University (SP16 and SP17).
This film looks at the ways that tradition, music, tourism, and boxing are entangled within the historic city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. It explores the origins and history of muay and its music. It concludes with nuanced conversations between Bangkok and Chiang Mai musicians over ownership, authority, standardization, and Lanna and Thai nationalism. This film also sheds light on regional musical traditions that are at risk of being lost. It looks at the differences in musical or cultural representation between boxing stadia, and the incentives and inspirations that are responsible for those decisions. How northern—or how central—might one wish to sound? It challenges the idea, “what should muay Thai sound like,” and argues, “what can muay Thai sound like?”
Through fieldwork, interviews, and musical demonstrations, this film foregrounds the complexities of Thai identity and ‘Thainess’ that arise from the interactions of music and sport. The film is in English and Thai with subtitles, and run-time is 45 minutes.
In the year 2000, Pärt composed the work Orient and Occident for string orchestra. The work is a wordless tintinnabuli setting of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Its idiosyncratic use of dissonance, string techniques, and modal vocabulary is atypical of his tintinnabuli works. Several reviews suggest that Orient and Occident shares similarities with Near-Eastern music, or the characteristics of Islamic cantillation. Throughout Pärt’s compositional career, he has declined to comment in depth on his own spirituality, and he has left it to his audience to draw their own conclusions. He has suggested letting the music “speak for itself,” as a symbol to convey his own inner spiritual thoughts. I suggest that Orient and Occident is an exposition of his own inner Orthodoxy, and a musical mediation of his Orthodox faith in relation to other faiths, Christian or otherwise.
This thesis considers the ways in which we view Pärt as mediator for sacred music in a secular, postmodern environment, through Orient and Occident and historical perspectives of the icon in Byzantine Orthodox traditions. It examines the broader connotations of Pärt, the icon, and spirituality; providing insights into his 2010 performance in Istanbul. It examines the ‘aural architecturality’ of tintinnabulation, through hermeneutic and phenomenological theories surrounding iconography and light mysticism. It tackles the notions of ‘catholicity’ and ecumenicity with which the world has come to know Pärt; from the lens of his Orthodox faith, and extending outwards across geographical, cultural, political, and spiritual borders."
Over three decades since the schism that marked the end of the Process, their teachings ostensibly live on today, through a musical collective known as Holy Terror, and through a band “the Sabbath Assembly” reinterpreting the hymns of the Process. My intention is to recreate the historical framework of this unique religious movement, especially the cross-relationships between it and the popular music of their time. Upon providing a solid foundation, my intent is to explore the lineage and re-adaptation of Processean ideology in this contemporary musical milieu, and the processes of change that take place in the religious tenets intrinsic to Processean thought and the mindsets of contemporaneous re-interpreters. I also intend to explore Holy Terrorism within its subcultural context, and its relation to a larger global narrative–particularly the over sensationalized eschatological concepts that are inextricably intertwined in the moral, political, and sociological fabrics of mainstream contemporary society.
Taught for two semesters at Boston University (SP16 and SP17).