Gurdjieff, Tsabropoulos: Chants, Hymns and Dances

Georges Gurdjieff (Composer), Thomas de Hartmann (Composer), Vassilis Tsabropoulos (Performer), Anja Lechner (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Vassilis Tsabropoulos, Anja Lechner
• Composer: Georges Gurdjieff, Thomas de Hartmann
• Audio CD (September 28, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: ECM
• ASIN: B0002ONC72
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,888 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #77 in Music > Classical > Ballets & Dances > Dances

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER GREEN WORLD, February 21, 2005

By 

Kerry Leimer (Makawao, Hawaii United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gurdjieff, Tsabropoulos: Chants, Hymns and Dances (Audio CD)

Properly direct, unadorned production, clear tonality and 72 minutes of interior calm. I can't speak for either the ideas or beliefs of Gurdjieff -- or de Hartmann -- and I can't honestly say how they might be reflected in this music, but "Chants, Hymns and Dances" accomplishes two things. First, the music is thoroughly tranquil without being shallow, or just pretty, or simply slow and empty. This sets both the music and the performances apart from a lot of "meditative" recordings that too often yield to an overly static, conservative drone. The pieces here are active and consistently engaging. The second is a little harder to define. While the liner notes present a good deal of information about the influences of various ethic musics, those stylistic references are frankly fairly well contained. This is not a "world music" recording. There is simply never a sense of the foreign here -- by "foreign" I mean in the sense of 'I've got something in my eye' -- as might be accomplished by the sudden incursion of, say, ancient Greek music. The references are well-proportioned, never overstated and generally act as a subtle coloring to the surrounding mass of each piece. In short, the music is wholly recognizable to western ears without seeming every-day or too familiar.

There is also a seamless transition to and from the music of the pianist on this recording, Vassilis Tsabropoulos. His compositions come across -- almost -- as well-devised improvisations based on the Gurdjieff pieces, and reflect the same sense of inner purpose. Throughout this CD, his playing is very well tuned to the subtle emotional states of the music, even while simply playing dotted rhythms on octaves below the very expressive violincello work of Anja Lechner.

That said, the emotional range is a narrow one of quiet and yearning. It's frankly a treat to listen to an entire CD of music essentially uninterested in bold contrasts, violent tempo change or harsh dynamics without the music ever slipping into an ignorable, two-dimensional, ambient pleasantness. Instead, the music and the performances invite active listening from beginning to end. "Chants, Hymns and Dances" achieves a rare and curious balance.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, January 10, 2005

By 

Bluejack (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gurdjieff, Tsabropoulos: Chants, Hymns and Dances (Audio CD)

The music is simple, yet subtle; Anja Lechner on violoncello, and Vassilis Tsabropoulos on piano together weave a full texture of unforgettable music. Most of the album us based on melodies by Gurdjieff, around a trio of pieces by Tsabropoulos. The whole is serene, mournful, inspiring.

This is a quiet, peaceful disc, and yet it's not the kind of thing you'll probably play as background music. Something about these melodies works its way right *below* your consciousness, so that you want to really listen to it, really lose yourself in it. There are no lyrics, no voices, and yet these "chants" seem to strive to communicate something exquisitely beautiful, something tragically forgotten.

For me, listening to this music feels like being hopelessly in love; but with someone who lived a thousand years ago. Perfect. Impossible. Heartbreaking.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have!, January 11, 2006

By 

K. Eksi (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gurdjieff, Tsabropoulos: Chants, Hymns and Dances (Audio CD)

This amazingly beautiful album to me is the soundtrack of Anatolia, of an era gone by when Turks, Greeks, Armenians and other ethnic groups shared their lives peacefully and harmoniously. Its sadness inevitably reminds me of millions who unnecessarily died on this soil in many wars fought in early twentieth century, of people forced to leave the only land the knew for unknown destinations and destinies, of the unimaginable hardships endured by its people. And more personally it takes me fom New York and puts me right next to my father's grave in a forgotten Anatolian village, 6000 miles away.