Zartir

George Gurdjieff (c 1867-1949) was a philosopher, mystic and composer, whose music is generally known through the transcriptions of the Russian composer Thomas de Hartmann. Born to a Greek father in what is now Armenia, he roamed widely around the Caucasus (then part of the Russian Empire), Ottoman Turkey and the Middle East – as well as Europe and America. He became fascinated by the traditional and spiritual music of the region, including Armenian Christian, Orthodox and Islamic Sufi.

The music on this album is mainly by Gurdjieff, arranged by Levon Eskenian for a chamber ensemble of Middle Eastern instruments including duduk, oud, santur, kamancha and more. But there are also songs by Armenian minstrels or ashughs, that Gurdjieff admired, most notably Sayat-Nova. Despite being Greek, Gurdjieff’s father was a respected ashugh who sang in Armenian.

While Gurdjieff’s identity, beliefs and music are elusive, what The Gurdjieff Ensemble have created here is an atmospheric collection of mystical songs, contemplative pieces – the keening duduks of ‘Introduction and Funeral March’ are beautiful – and spiritual dances like the Mevlevi-inspired ‘Trembling Dervish’. Zartir culminates in ‘The Great Prayer’, a solemn finale with choir, supposedly based on a ritual from the Silk Road city of Kashgar.