Laudamus...

Elan Sicroff

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Contents of CD

Schott Edition Vol. I - Asian Songs and Rhythms (ED 7841)
1 | Tibetan Melody: 1.VII.`1924 (No. 8)
2 | Long Ago in Mikhailov: 7.I.1926 (No. 30)
3 | Arabian Dance: 22.XI.1925 (No. 45)
4 | Kurd Shepherd Melody: 25.IX.1926 (No.17)
5 | Armenian Melody: 19.III.1927 (No.15)
6 | Hindu Melody: 22.II.1926 (No. 34)
7 | Greek Song: 20.XII.1925 (No. 3)
8 | Untitled (moderato), 23.VI.1924 (No. 39)

Volume III - Hymns, Prayers and Rituals (ED 7843)
9 | Laudamus…: 20.II.1927 (No.4)
10 | Untitled: 6.I.1927 (No.8)
11 | As if the Stormy Years had Passed: 10.XII.1925 (No.14)
12 | The Resurrection of Christ: 24.IV.1927 (No.50)
13 | Easter Hymn and Procession in the Holy Night: 23.IV.1927 (No.51)

Volume II - Music of the Sayyids and the Dervishes(ED 7842)
14 | Dervish Dance: 2.VI.1926 (No. 5)
15 | Kurdish Song: 25.IV.1926 (No. 40)
16 | Sayyid Dance: 6.V.1926 (No.26)
17 | Sayyid Chant and Dance: 30.III.1926 (No.9)
18 | Moorish Dance (Dervish): 29.V.1926 (No.28)

Volume IV - Hymns From a Great Temple and Other Selected Works
19 | The Very Sweet Time: 7.XI.1925 (No. 15)
[Fragment No. 5 & 6, The Struggle of the Magicians]
20 | Tibetan Dance: 1920-1924 (No.16)
(Fragment No. 6, The Struggle of the Magicians, Act III]
21 | The Essentuki Prayer: 1918 (No. 21)

Thomas de Hartmann, personal music - From Six Pieces, Op. 7 (1902)
22 | Prelude
23 | Nocturne
23 | Impromptu

Details :: The piano music of Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann

At the heart of Gurdjieff’s teaching lies the assertion that man’s conscience, submerged in his subconsciousness, can be awakened to participate in his daily life, and thus become the instrument for his transformation. There are four sources of this teaching – writings, sacred dance, sacred music, and group work. All are designed to contribute to this aim.

The particular function of the sacred music is to open the feelings in the listener. Gurdjieff makes the distinction between our ordinary subjective emotions, based on the polarities of attraction and repulsion and upon attachment to the world around us; and the higher emotions, which have no opposites. These are available to our experience, but they are subtle and need to be approached with receptivity.

The music itself comes from many sources which Gurdjieff encountered during his search for knowledge in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa at the end of the nineteenth century. As a boy, Gurdjieff had been trained as a chorister, and could express himself on the guitar, the harmonica, and the harmonium. He also had a remarkable aural memory. Together with the Russian composer Thomas de Hartmann, he was responsible for over 300 works between 1918 and 1927, mostly written at the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man at Fontainebleau, near Paris.

In addition to the sacred music, this CD features the early classical output of Thomas de Hartmann. Born in 1885 in the Ukraine, de Hartmann was already a rising star in the Russian musical world by the turn of the 20th century. His Six Pieces (1902), three of which are recorded here, were published by Jurgensen Edition in his seventeenth year. By 1906, when he was 21, his ballet The Scarlet Flower had been performed in front of the Czar, with Nijinsky, Fokine and Pavlova in the cast. In 1908 de Hartmann traveled to Germany to study conducting with Felix Mottl, a pupil of Wagner. Here he joined the avant-garde, and met his lifelong friend, the painter Wassily Kandinsky. Together they collaborated on the Yellow Sound, a ballet scenario exploring the relationship between sound and color.

Read more about The Thomas de Hartmann project >>

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The Thomas De Hartmann Project - CD/DVD Combination Package

Elan Sicroff

Price: $50.00

Shipping & Handling Included
Pre-Sale, Special Edition

Contents of CD/DVD Combination Package

After Journeys to Inaccessible Places (1985), and Sicroff Plays Gurdjieff (2002) Elan is now embarking on a project to record a 3rd CD. The new CD will include a number of his classical works along with the sacred music from the East in collaboration with Gurdjieff.

A number of soon-to-be favorites await, including No. 39 and Greek Melody from Asian Songs and Rhythms; The Resurrection of Christ, from Hymns, Prayers and Rituals; selections from The Struggle of the Magicians (from the ballet scenario which Gurdjieff worked on in the 1920’s); and various Chants and Dances of the Sayyids and Dervishes which he has not previously recorded.

In addition, Elan has recorded 3 very early works: Prelude, Nocturne, and Impromptu from the Six Pieces, Op. 7. Unlike other CD's with de Hartmann's music this CD will feature de Hartmann as classical composer as well as the more known 'Gurdjieff/ De Hartmann' collaborations.

Details :: CD/DVD Combination Package

This package includes the Laudamus… CD and a DVD that is limited to the first 100 customers. The DVD will have a serial number and will have the purchaser’s name on the back of the case. The copy of the Laudamus CD will be signed by Elan.

This is a fundraiser package. The proceeds from the sales of this package will be used to fund for further activities of the Thomas de Hartmann Project.

The DVD features an extended interview with Elan on topics ranging from his work with Mme. Olga de Hartmann in the 1970s to his search for the meaning that lies at the heart of this music. Interspersed are pieces taken from a number of live performances since 2007 as well as footage of the Laudamus recording session at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Of particular interest are portions of the Violin Sonata Op. 51, performed by Katharina Paul with Elan in January 2010 in Italy, and a number of unpublished works by Thomas de Hartmann which have never been recorded commercially.

Sound bytes from CD & DVD ::

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• Armenian Melody
• Essentuki Hymm

Sicroff plays Gurdjieff

Elan Sicroff

Price: $15.95

plus $3.00 Shipping & Handling (US)
or plus $8.00 for International Shipping & Handling

Contents of CD

Gurdjieff/de Hartmann music
Schott Edition Vol. III - Hymns, Prayers and Rituals
1 | Orthodox Hymn for a Midnight Service: No. 18, Nov. 3., 1926
(Formerly: Seekers of the Truth, No. 19)

Schott Edition Vol. I - Asian Songs and Rhythms
2 | Kurd Shepherd's Dance: No. 19, Apr. 8, 1926
3 | Song of the Fisherwomen: No 20, Mar. 26, 926
4 | Lento, quasi recitativo: No. 10, July 31, 1925
5 | Atarnakh, Kurd Song: No. 7, July 31, 1925
6 | Greek Melody: No. 37, Mar. 6, 1927
7 | Mamasha: No. 23, Dec., 1925

Hymns from a Truly Great Temple
8 | No. 8: Jan. 30, 1926
9 | No. 9: Jan. 31, 1926

Schott Edition Vol. II - Music of the Sayyids and the Dervishes
10 | Sayyid Chant and Dance: No. 1, Mar. 17, 1926
11 | Untitled: No. 4, Sept. 10, 1925
12 | Persian Dervish: No. 6, June 4, 1926
13 | Sayyid Chant and Dance: No. 10, Apr. 3, 1926
14 | Dervish Dance: No. 17, May 20, 1926
15 | Sayyid Chant and Dance: No. 29 (date unknown)
16 | Sayyid Chant and Dance: No. 30, Mar. 21, 1926
17 | Dervish Dance: No. 26, June 21, 1924

Schott Edition Vol. III - Hymns, Prayers and Rituals
18 | Easter Hymn and Night Procession: No 51, Apr. 23, 1927
[Formerly: Janus Vol. IV, No. 16]
19 | Prayer and Despair: No. 20, Jan. 5, 1926
[Formerly: Janus Vol. IV., No. 2]
20 | Prayer of Gratitude: No. 22, July 30, 1924

Non Gurdjieff/de Hartmann, Non Thomas de Hartmann
21 | Greek Letters Prayer: Composer Unknown

Thomas de Hartmann, personal music
22 | Mazurka: No. 2 in "Trois Morceaux," Opus 4
Publisher: Jurgenson, St. Petersburg, circa 1905

Gurdjieff/de Hartmann Music
Seekers of the Truth
23 | The Bokharian Dervish, Hadji Asvatz-Troov: No. 18, Mar. 19, 1927

Details :: The piano music of Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann

Sicroff's Journey to Inaccessible Places has been out of print for years. Finally, he has a new recording of the music that lies at the core of G. I. Gurdjieff's Fourth Way. Twenty-two tracks of sacred hymns, dervishes, prayers, and other music by Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann -- plus Greek Letters Prayer (composer unknown).

Sicroff's interpretation is fresh, deeply spiritual, and technically immaculate.

The recording is state of the art. Available on CD only: $15.95 + $3 s/h.

Video Clip of CD ::