Chants, Hymns and Dances - Music of Gurdjieff and Tsabropoulos

---

---

Customer reviews

review by: Skypilot date: 2008-05-31 rating:
Serendipity
Beautiful, haunting sonorous music - spiritual rather than religious in feel. I heard a track on Classic FM and was so impressed I had to buy the CD - at bargain price on Marketplace.

The CD has arrangements of Gurdjieff's spiritual music for cello and piano, as well as five pieces by pianist Tsabropoulos. The music often has an Armenian, Ukranian and Greek Orthodox tone and is played in a subdued and almost introvert manner. Piano and cello match each other perfectly sounding warm, dark and achingly beautiful.

Even at full price you will not be disappointed by this CD. Put it on when you are alone and need to think stuff through - or share it intimately with someone you love. Be warned. This is not background music. It will cast its spell upon you and draw you into its serene and yearning atmosphere.

What an absolute and unexpected treasure! My best classical discovery on CD in a long time.

---

review by: degrant date: 2006-01-17 rating:
Spellbinding
ECM label boss Manfred Eicher obviously harbours an interest in the Armenian “incidental composer” Gurdjieff whose quotation about the specific inner content of ancient art adorns the cover of one of the label’s most celebrated recording, “Morimur” and 15 of whose compositions have previously been recorded by Keith Jarrett and released on the label.

Gurdjieff ran the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man near Fountainebleu and is described as “philosopher, reconciler of science and esoteric lore” in the informative liner notes. Despite Gurdjieff’s shamanistic side, pianist Tsabropoulos and cellist Lechner have been at pains to stress that their interest was musical and not philosophical

In any event, in arranging Gurdjieff’s piano compositions for piano and cello, they have created a magnificent album which, in revealing an inner content hitherto not apparent, stands as a document of a confluence in musical styles and sensibilities, where east meets west. Gurdjieff’s compositions have intriguing and exotic titles such as “Chant from a Holy Book”, “Duduki” (an Armenian wind instrument) and best of all in every sense “Assyrian Woman Mourners” whose name is reminiscent of titles such as “Song from the Thracian Plain” from the 4AD album of Bulgarian choral music entitled “le Mystere dex Voix Bulgares.”

There is a richness and fullness in the sound despite the presence of only two instruments. I was familiar with Tsabropoulos from his performance on Arild Andersen’s “The Triangle” and his solo album “Akroasis”. Good though those are, Tsabropoulos’s performance reaches another level here. His piano has an extraordinary sound, full of religious purity and assured yet ethereal and hypnotic and there are echoes of much late nineteenth century and twentieth century piano music such as Debussy, Ravel and Satie. However, for all the plaudits deservedly directed towards Tsabropolous, Lechner’s cello is the revelation providing a weight, dissonance and contrast to the piano meaning that the closest comparison to this recording is the wonderful “Music for Egon Schiele” by the American genre-jumping group, Rachel’s, which I would recommend unreservedly.

Book-ended by variations of “Chant From a Holy Woman” this is an album in which very few moments are less than spellbinding. Paradoxically, two of the highlights for me are both Tsabropoulos compositions, the second and third of the “trios morceaux après des hymnes byzantins” which form the centrepiece of the album. One review I have read was rather dismissive of Tsabropoulos’s compositional skills, likening his pieces to lightweight new age music. Such claims are wholly misplaced and morceaux II and III are utterly magnificent in their beauty.

Perhaps even better than these however is the afore-mentioned “Assyrian Woman Mourners.” There are a few moments in music which rise above the many thousands of hours of recorded beauty in all its forms and this twelfth tracks rivals the 18th to 24th minutes of the second movement of Jarrett’s “la Scala” in this regard. For that reason alone, this is an album to cherish.


review by: date: 2005-08-19 rating:
Review of Tsabropoulos/Gurdjieff - Chants, Hymns & Dances
This is one of the most beautiful albums I have ever heard. It is at once hypnotic and enchanting. It is deeply introspective and moving music. I have heard a lot of Gurdjieff's music before and have not liked it - but the tracks on this album, which combine piano and cello, are exquisite. Tsabropoulos's "Hymns" are perhaps the most deeply moving of all. I listen to it over and over again.

---

Similar products

Sacred Hymns of G.I. Gurdjieff
Akroasis
Melos
Cantando
Being There

---

Similar categories

Music . Styles . Classical . Classical Instrumental . Record Labels . ECM
Music . Styles . Classical . Classical Instrumental . Chamber Music . General AAS
Music . Styles . Classical . General
Music . Styles . Classical . Opera & Vocal . Choral . Religious . Hymns
Music . Styles . Classical . Opera & Vocal . Choral . Religious . General AAS
Music . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . CD . CD Album

---