Ancient and Sacred Music
Music of the Inner Search: Asian Songs, Eastern Orthodox Chants, Great Temple Hymns, and Dances of the Sayyids and Dervishes
of
G. I. Gurdjieff / Thomas de Hartmann
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was born in Russian Armenia in 1866. Although raised in the Russian Orthodox Church and a devout member all his life, as a young man he traveled widely on a spiritual quest to remote places in the Middle East, Central Asia and Tibet. Based on his experiences, he developed a teaching for westerners seeking greater spiritual awareness and a deeper understanding of life. Today the Gurdjieff work is practiced by groups throughout the world. During his journeys Gurdjieff also studied the music of many ethnic traditions, remote temples and monasteries. He was convinced that this music preserved essential characteristics of different cultures and conveyed deeper religious meanings that cannot be expressed in words.
In Gurdjieff's view, music must above all serve to lead humanity toward awakening. Most of the music we listen to, however, is "subjective." Not only does it flow from the composer's subjective state or mood, but it affects each listener according to his or her mood. Much rarer is "objective" music, composed from a higher understanding of human nature, especially how feeling is affected by the qualities of musical vibration. Objective music should affect all people the same way. It not only touches the feelings but can at times transform them, bringing the listener to a more unified or harmonious state within himself. This can help the listener open to the finer or more spiritual parts of himself and the world about him.
In the 1920's, in collaboration with the composer Thomas de Hartmann, Gurdjieff's musical recollections evolved into hundreds of pieces of piano music. In his book, Our Life With Mr. Gurdjieff, de Hartmann described the process:
"Mr. Gurdjieff generally whistled or played on the piano with one finger a very complicated kind of melody, as are all Eastern melodies, although they seem at first to be monotonous. ... It was not easy to notate. While listening to him play, I had to scribble down at feverish speed the tortuous shifts and turns of the melody, sometimes a repetition of just two notes. ... Mr Gurdjieff's music had great variety. The most deeply moving was that which he remembered hearing in remote temples during his Asian travels. Listening to this music, one was touched to the depth of his being ..."
To hear some of the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann music go to: http://www.gurdjieff.org/triangle.htm
Sayyid Dance & Chant 29 Hindu Melody
Women's Dance Big Seven
To read more about the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann music: gurdjieff.org/rosenthal or
gurdjieff.org/music
To read more about the Gurdjieff work: http://www.gurdjieff.org/index.en.htm
Stafford Ordahl, Pianist
Stafford Ordahl joined the Gurdjieff Foundation in New York in 1960 and soon began his studies in playing the Gurdjieff/De Hartmann music and playing for the movements, sacred dance forms Gurdjieff developed based on his experiences in Asian monasteries. Mr. Ordahl studied under the direction of Mrs. Annette Herter, a pupil of Mr. Gurdjieff and Mr. De Hartmann. This music has usually been reserved for students in the Gurdjieff work, and is rarely played in public. However, in recent years, Mr. Ordahl has performed this music in public concerts in New York, Toronto, Miami, Phoenix and Jerusalem, and continues to share his understanding of the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann music.
Thursday April 22, 2010 7:00 P.M.
Trinity Presbyterian Church
630 Park Ave. (Park & Copper Basin) Prescott, Arizona
For tickets call: (928) 771-8998 or (928) 925-0154
E-mail: 4thway.az@gmail.com
or write to Gurdjieff Foundation of Prescott
PO Box 3967Prescott, AZ 86302
Tickets: $7 in advance. $10 at the door.