Gurdjieff | Artist

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was an Armenian Philosopher, Mystic and Composer, born 1866 (uncertain) in Gyumri, Armenia, Russian Empire. Details of his early life are sketchy, but he is thought to have spent his early adult years traveling in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East, India, and especially Central Asia, learning about various spiritual traditions. He moved to Moscow about 1913 and began teaching there and in Petrograd, returning to the Caucasus at the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917. Joined by some followers, Gurdjieff established the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in 1919 at Tiflis (now Tbilisi), Georgia; it was reestablished at Fontainebleau, France, in 1922. Its members, many from prominent backgrounds, lived a virtually monastic life, except for a few banquets, at which Gurdjieff would engage in probing dialogue readings. Ritual exercises and dance were also part of the regimen, often accompanied by music composed jointly by Gurdjieff and an associate, the composer Thomas de Hartmann. Performers from the institute appeared in Paris in 1923 and in three U.S. cities the following year and brought considerable attention to Gurdjieff’s work. A disciple named P.D. Ouspensky introduced Gurdjieff’s teachings to Western readers in an understandable intellectual form. Gurdjieff's teaching, which some researchers relate to the Buddhist concept of awareness or 'mindfulness', addressed the question of humanity's place in the universe and the importance of developing its latent potentialities. He taught that higher levels of consciousness, inner growth and development are real possibilities that require conscious work to achieve. The aim is not to acquire anything new but to recover what we have lost. Gurdjieff’s musical legacy is a profound collection of approximately 200 to 300 sacred pieces composed in the mid-1920s. The music serves as an experiential, auditory tool designed for spiritual awakening, mindfulness, and inner transformation. Rather than being written for passive entertainment, Gurdjieff intended his compositions to bypass mechanical human conditioning and resonate directly within an "unknown interior realm" of the listener. Many recordings exist of his works, in particular those performed by pianist Thomas de Hartmann, and modern performances by The Gurdjieff Folk Instruments Ensemble from Armenia. Recommended releases include Improvisations (1971), The Music of Gurdjieff / de Hartmann (1989), Voyage vers des lieux inaccessibles (2001) Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff (2011) Sacred Honey (2018), and Zartir (2023). Gurdjieff died of cancer at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, on 29 October 1949.

Artist Website: wikipedia.org/George_Gurdjieff

Featured Albums: Gurdjieff

Related Artists: Thomas de Hartmann, The Gurdjieff Ensemble