Customer Reviews

Gurdjieff, Tsabropoulos: Chants, Hymns and Dances

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff's music was first given a broad public exposure with Keith Jarrett's recording "Sacred Hymns" in 1980. The public was perhaps already partly prepared for this music in 1979, due to the release of director Peter Brook's beautiful film on the life of G.I. Gurdjieff, "Meetings with Remarkable Men". The closing sequences of "Meetings with Remarkable Men" show the middle-aged Gurdjieff being taught about deep ontological truths through live performances of both music and dance.

In the 1920's, at his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, Gurdjieff continued this work by collaborating with Thomas de Hartmann on creating an "objective music". A music that "would work upon all listeners equally, focusing their mental life and bringing them to a new relationship with the living universe". It is probably Keith Jarrett, who has worked closely with the Gurdjieff Societies of both London and New York, that has produced the most "authentic" or "objective" reading of Gurdjieff's music in recent years.

On this ECM New Series disc of 2004, "Chants, Hymns and Dances", Anja Lechner and Vassilis Tsabropoulos decided to take a more liberal, "subjective", approach. Their interest in these compositions is perhaps more "musical than philosophical". Their suitability for this task should be apparent. Lechner's most recent work has involved interpreting the music of both Armenian Composer Tigran Mansurian and the Ukrainian Valentin Silvestrov. While Tsabropoulos, for his part, has worked with ancient Byzantine music and the music of the Greek Orthodox Church.

According to the informative liner notes by Steve Lake, "This music exists for the individual to make of it what he or she will, according to capacity". Lechner and Tsabropoulos both have deep experience with composed music and also with the process of free improvisation. Indeed, these two performers brilliantly interpret Gurdjieff's music with gentle assurance and a bright spontaneity. The five original compositions on this disc by Tsabropoulos even suggest an affinity with the Gurdjieff sensibility that borders on predestination.

"Chants, Hymns and Dances" is worthy of repeated encounter and remains serenely vital with each new audition. This is an ambiguous music that defies easy spiritual classification.

Peaceful, meditative, sad, introspective, deceptively simple. Classical. Coming from a deep sense of inner peace, like all things from the Work, but NOT New Agey.

Mystical.

Mr Gurdjieff sang or hummed his songs and Thomas deHartmann "wrote them down and added harmony". Hard to tell where Mr. G stops and deHartmann starts, but we will never know. Mr G speaks of Objective Music and the vast majority pieces of subjective music. This is the former.

I must confess that many other peformances and arrangements of the music of Gurdjieff/de Hartmann, the way it was "supposed to be played", left me cold. Most of the other renditions I heard were played by those Drunk with Orthodoxy, amaturish or just plain lacking in musical ability.

This version is a revelation!

I think G would approve of this.

I like this, I think that the arrangements for cello and piano instead of just piano, as written, is an artistic triumph. The cello played by Anja Lechner expresses the peace and meditative sadness inherent in the music, even if that wasn't the way it's usually played. Composers are often not the best intepreters of their music.

That having been said there are three part to this music, pieces by G/deH, Tsabropoulos and then more G/deH and when the pianist sticks his own works in the middle of Mr G's the quality of composition falls somewhat. His compositions are or similar mood and type to G/deH, but really don't have the same achieve the same heights of depth and soul. (Mr G would say they are not Objective Music, I guess.) Perfomances of all pieces are uniformly good.

I would hope this group will arrange more of Mr G's music in this format in the future.

Recommended.

These are actual compositions as opposed to new age ramblings, yet iano, cello and violin alone create a subtle texture to the music. There is a modern classic feel with a tinge of eastern influence. Like a soundtrack at times, and a dervish melancholy murmur at others. Fans of Harold Budd, Keith Jarret's improv concerts, Satie, and Nyman will enjoy.

I first heard the performers being interviewed on NPR and was immediately captured by the music. It was one of those drive-away moments on NPR. I just had to buy the CD.
To start with the music is unique and is excellently composed. It is grandiose and yet simple. A very difficult combination to achieve but successfully accomplished in this CD. It is difficult to exactly put my finger on the feeling it evokes but I could call it a sense of timelessness, a sense of suspended reality. It compells you to sit back and just soak it in.

i was driving along on a rainy day in rush hour traffic listening to NPR. strange and beautiful began to fill my vehicle.
i was overwhelmed.it was transcendant.i immediately pulled over into a supermarket parking lot and listened for 15 mins in a total downpour waiting for them to say the name and artist of this wonderful disc.if you like the rachels,harold budd,satie or yo yo ma's silk road journies you will fall in love w/ this.a must buy.
chris buxbaum aka iggyziggy3

Tsabropoulos is a Greek solist. He attempts a different reading of some of the most beautiful hymns of the Orthodox tradition. He does not pretend to offer an academic reading of the pieces, but a deep, tactile musical impression. An album worth listening to.

ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION: Mehdi Instrumental Heaven... Absolutely Beautiful.

This is one of the most moving records I have ever heard. It is a must have for any classical music lover or anyone who appreciates deeply emotional music. So simple, so powerful. Wow.