For those who like GI Gurdjieff’s toe-tapping showstoppers, here’s news of blockbusting 4 CD plus 256 page book box set guaranteed to set you in a spin.
Entitled The Oriental Suite and compiled by Gert-Jan Blom,
this lavish set features reconstructions of the music which originally accompanied
a series of public demonstrations in Paris
in 1923 of what Gurdjieff and his posse called Sacred Gymnastics and Movements.
The music, composed by Gurdjieff to accompany these dances,
was orchestrated by Thomas de Hartmann and performed by an orchestra of
thirty-five musicians. In January 1924, Gurdjieff and his pupils sailed to America
for a series of public demonstrations in New York,
Boston and Chicago.
At Gurdjieff's request, de Hartmann adapted the full orchestral scores for a
smaller ensemble that would accompany the demonstrations there.
The four CDs enclosed with this book contain both the Paris
orchestrations and the American versions, all recorded for the first time by
the Metropole Orchestra and the Little Orchestra. There’s also a bonus set featuring music that
was intended for Gurdjieff's unfinished ballet The Struggle of the Magicians.
The 255 page book is profusely illustrated with many new photos and unique historical documents. It further contains recollections of people who were present when these demonstrations were given, as well as a sampling of the extensive press coverage that the Gurdjieff Institute generated during its first (and final) public appearance.
For further information go to BastaMusic but please note that the set mentioned here will not be going online until November 1st. However, you can see another Gurdjieff related item on site with an endorsement (and foreword) from Robert Fripp.
