Paul Griffiths is a distinguished British music critic and novelist, renowned for his insightful writings on modern classical music. Beyond his critical work, he also crafts prose and opera libretti, demonstrating a profound understanding of musical structures and their emotional resonance. His literary contributions explore the intricate relationship between sound, language, and the human experience, offering readers a unique perspective.
Exploring the life of Ophelia through two distinct narratives, the first delves into her experiences prior to the events of Shakespeare's play, while the second reflects on her journey afterward. The unique storytelling technique involves creatively remixing and repurposing Ophelia's dialogue from the original text, offering a fresh perspective on her character and the themes of love, loss, and identity within the context of the classic tragedy.
A sequel to the seminal 2008 novel 'let me tell you', in which Ophelia tells
her story using only the small vocabulary allotted to her by Shakespeare in
the play Hamlet.
Israel: A Christian Grammar proposes and defends the theses that the church and the synagogue together constitute Israel; that each is irrevocably promised intimacy with the same God; and that the synagogue should be understood by the church to be more intimate with that God than she is herself.
The book offers a concise yet thorough introduction to Blaise Pascal, highlighting his life, literary contributions, and the central themes present in his works. It serves as an insightful resource for understanding Pascal's influence and the significance of his ideas.
The Tomb Guardians awake to find the tomb empty and one of their number missing. Their conversation overlaps with another - an anguished lecturer and friend exploring the Renaissance Master portraits they occupy. One looks back at the dawn of the Reformation, the other thrashes out an excuse."--Back cover
"To various degrees, all human beings experience regret. In this concise theological grammar, Paul J. Griffiths analyzes this attitude toward the past and distinguishes its various kinds. He examines attitudes encapsulated in the phrase, "I would it were otherwise," including regret, contrition, remorse, compunction, lament, and repentance. By using literature (especially poetry) and Christian theology, Griffiths shows both what is good about regret and what can be destructive about it. Griffiths argues that on the one hand regret can take the form of remorse-an agony produced by obsessive and ceaseless examination of the errors, sins, and omissions of the past. This kind of regret accomplishes nothing and produces only pain. On the other hand, when regret is coupled with contrition and genuine sorrow for past errors, it has the capacity both to transfigure the past-which is never merely past-and to open the future. Moreover, in thinking about the phenomenon of regret in the context of Christian theology, Griffiths focuses especially on the notion of the LORD's regret. Is it even reasonable to claim that the LORD regrets? Griffiths shows not only that it is but also that the LORD's regret should structure how we regret as human beings." --Book cover
What if Beethoven had travelled to the United States in their infancy, taking up his commission to write a Biblical oratorio for Boston's Handel and Haydn Society?As Beethoven wrestles with his muse, and his librettist, he comes to rely on two women. Thankful, who conducts his conversations using Martha's Vineyard sign language, and a kindred spirit: the widow, Mrs. Hill. Meanwhile all Boston waits in anxious expectation of a first performance the composer will never hear.Variously admonishing the amateur music society and laughing in the company of his hosts' children, the immortal composer is brought back to the fullness of life.Griffiths invents only what is strictly possible. His historiography weaves through the text in counterpoint, making this also a story about the fragility of the past and the remaining traces of the man: Mr. Beethoven.'In Griffiths' latest novel... the composer brings his time, his temperament and his sense of democracy to us. But he can’t possibly fit in. The challenge of Beethoven 250 will be to retain a Beethoven who is among us but refuses to fit in.'- Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
" now I come to speak. At last. I will tell you all I know...." These are the words of Ophelia at the beginning of this short literally her words, in that her narrative is composed entirely of the vocabulary she is allotted in Hamlet. Within these meagre resources, she manages to express herself on topics including her love for her father (Polonius), her care for her younger brother (Laertes), her puzzlement in the face of the Prince himself, and her increasing sense that she must escape the fate awaiting her in the play. This is no mere technical exercise or prequel to the the use of such a restricted vocabulary means that Ophelia's voice, while direct and passionate, gains musical qualities as words keep recurring in perpetually changing contexts. Paul Griffiths, born in Bridgend, Wales, is a well-known writer on contemporary and classical music.
