How Music is Like Other Things You Never Imagined

by Michael Kurek

“I have come to believe there is a little-noticed nexus of analogous aspects found amongst very different human activities that would seem to have nothing to do with each other. But under close examination, they all have to do, creatively, with my own experience of music. The more we see that so many things are only different manifestations of the same remarkable truths and impulses, the more they all point collectively to faith in God. Likewise, the more that my music reflects these parallels, the more I can see what this mysterious, invisible thing called music really is and how it reveals to us the personhood of God, in whose image we have been created. I believe that the more these parallels flow into and through an artist like the blood through one’s veins, and then out through one’s music, the more genuine and the greater can be the art he makes.”

What can music teach us about inspiration, painting, chess, cooking, childhood, dance, nature, and even artificial intelligence? In How Music Is Like Other Things You Never Imagined, acclaimed composer Michael Kurek draws on a lifetime of creativity to uncover surprising connections among seemingly unrelated pursuits. Written with warmth, wit, wisdom, and a Catholic perspective, this engaging exploration invites musicians, artists, and curious readers to discover how creativity, beauty, and faith reveal the divine harmony underlying experience.

Hardback: $24.95 | Paperback: $19.95 | Audible: $14.99 | Kindle: $9.99 USD

TESTIMONIALS

“Michael Kurek reveals music as a luminous grammar of creation, connecting art, nature, reason, and faith. This wise and engaging book invites readers to hear more deeply and recognize God’s harmony resounding throughout human experience.” – Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, author of The Narrative Spirituality of Dante’s Divine Comedy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Kurek is the author of the popular book The Sound of Beauty: A Classical Composer on Music in the Spiritual Life (Ignatius Press). A recognized composer whose music combines craftsmanship, emotional power, and narrative traditionalism, Kurek’s works have been performed or broadcast throughout the United States and in 43 other countries by ensembles including the Cincinnati Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Czech Radio Philharmonic, and Brisbane Philharmonic.

Kurek received the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Academy Award in Music, its highest lifetime-achievement honor in music, as well as its Charles Ives Prize. His 2017 album, The Sea Knows, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical chart and has earned more than half a million Spotify streams in over 100 countries. In 2022, Tennessee named him Composer Laureate of the State.

A voting member of The Recording Academy, Kurek served seven years on its Grammy Awards Nominations Committee. He is Professor Emeritus of Composition at Vanderbilt University and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan.

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