Singing the Right Way

About this book

Engelhardt enters the world of Orthodox Christianity in Estonia to explore the significance of musical style in worship, cultural identity, and social imagination. Through a series of ethnographic and historical chapters, the book focuses on how Orthodox Estonians give voice to the religious absolute in secular society to live Christ-like lives. Approaching Orthodoxy through local understandings of correct practice and correct belief, this work describes how religious knowledge, national identity, and social transformation were articulated in the work of singing not just any way, but the right way.