Note: This press kit is current as of August 13, 2025. For the most up-to-date information, please contact us at the email below.
About
Title: Listening to Eternity: The Music, Spirituality, and Creative World of Composer Tommie Haglund
Author: Aram Yardumian
Publication Date: September 5, 2025
Contact Information
editor@swedenborg.com
Office: 610-430-3222
Publisher: Swedenborg Foundation
ISBN: 978-0-87785-366-4
eISBN: 978-0-87785-736-5
Retail Price: $24.95
Page Count: 277
Dimensions: 5.5″ x 8.5″
Genre/Category
Nonfiction – Narrative
BISAC Code 1: BIO004000 – BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Composers & Musicians
BISAC Code 2: MUS050000 – MUSIC / Individual Composer & Musician
BISAC Code 3: OCC036000 BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Spirituality / General
Book Description
In a candid, question and answer format through conversations spanning several years, Aram Yardumian traces connections between Tommie Haglund’s compositions and life experiences. The story ranges from childhood struggles and periods of anxiety and illness to artistic triumphs; from a pivotal encounter with a medium to his love for Monty Python and meeting with John Cleese. This deeply personal narrative appeals to classical music lovers, spiritual seekers, and anyone curious about the creative process—no technical musical knowledge required.
“A powerful and beautiful book! I was engrossed in every detail. Yardumian takes us on a fascinating journey…”
—Dr. Chika Robertson, Professor of Violin, The Royal Academy of Music, London
This book contains:
- Introduction by John Mills, Classical Guitarist
- 40 images (23 color)
- French flaps
- Scholarly epilogue by the author
- List of Haglund’s complete works
- Further Listening
- Bibliography
Comp Titles
- 9780571255771 Conversations with Igor Stravinsky by Robert Craft
- 9781579990589 The Musician’s Soul by James Jordan
- 9780452298552 Healing at the Speed of Sound by Don Campbell
Audience
- Classical music enthusiasts and concertgoers (musicians and non-musicians)
- Spiritually-minded individuals interested in the intersection of creativity and spirituality
- Readers of artistic biographies and creative process narratives
- Followers of Swedenborg’s philosophy and spiritual teachings
Authors
Author Interview Availability
The author, Aram Yardumian, and subject, Tommie Haglund are available for interviews (print, radio, TV, and podcasts). Please contact editor@swedenborg.com for requests.
Aram Yardumian, Author
Bio (48 words)
Aram Yardumian is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Bryn Athyn College in Pennsylvania, USA. He is the author of The Peopling of the Caucasus (Cambridge University Press, 2025) as well as several books on musicology, Listen (Errant Bodies, 2022), Persepolis (Bloomsbury, 2023), and Mesostructures (4th Dimension, forthcoming 2025).
Tommie Haglund, Subject
Bio (183 words)
Born in Kalmar in 1959, Tommie Haglund is a Swedish composer whose music has been described as going “directly into the listener, heart to heart“ (Stig Jacobsson, music critic). Haglund studied classical guitar with John Mills in London from 1981–83, then at the Royal Academy of Music at Århus from 1983-85 but left to pursue composition full time. It was Mills who first introduced Haglund to the music of Frederick Delius, whose influence led to a meeting with Delius’ amanuensis, Eric Fenby, with whom Haglund later studied. He also studied composition with Sven-Eric Johanson from 1989-91.
Haglund’s major works include Intensio Animi (commissioned by the Swedenborg Society to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Emanuel Swedenborg’s birth); Flaminis Aura; Hymnen An Die Nacht; and Symphony. Haglund has received numerous prizes and awards, including the Stora Christ Johnson Prize and the HMK’s medal for “significant contributions to Swedish music.” In 2013, a documentary about Haglund’s life and work, Själens Musik, was broadcast on Swedish TV. The Tommie Haglund Festival, a biannual international classical music gala in Halmstad, is held in his honor.
Photos
Tommie Haglund, subject
Downloadable Book Images
