Gurdjieff and Music 300854 Aries Book Series Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism Editor Marco Pasi Editorial Board Jean-Pierre Brach Wouter J. Hanegraaff Andreas Kilcher Advisory Board Allison Coudert – Antoine Faivre – Olav Hammer Monika Neugebauer-Wölk – Mark Sedgwick – Jan Snoek György Szőnyi – Garry Trompf VOLUME 20 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/arbs 300854 Gurdjieff and Music The Gurdjieff/de Hartmann Piano Music and Its Esoteric Significance By Johanna J.M. Petsche LEIDEN | BOSTON 300854 Cover Illustration: Photo reproduced with kind permission from Dorine Tolley and Thomas A.G. Daly. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Petsche, Johanna J. M. Gurdjieff and music : the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann piano music and its esoteric significance / by Johanna J.M. Petsche. pages cm. -- (Aries book series ; v. 20) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-28442-5 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-28444-9 (e-book) 1. Gurdjieff, Georges Ivanovitch, 1872-1949. Piano music. 2. Gurdjieff, Georges Ivanovitch, 1872-1949. 3. Hartmann, Thomas de, 1885-1956. I. Title. ML410.G9772P47 2015 786.2092--dc23 2014038858 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1871-1405 ISBN 978-90-04-28442-5 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-28444-9 (e-book) Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. 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This book is printed on acid-free paper. 300854 Contents Acknowledgements VII Music Definitions and Abbreviations of Texts IX Notes to the Reader XII List of QR Codes Xv Introduction 1 1 Gurdjieff, His Music and Teaching 9 2 Music in the Biography of Gurdjieff 39 3 Music in the Biography of de Hartmann 65 4 The Collaboration 93 5 Sources and Styles 110 6 Sheet Music and Recordings 134 7 The Piano Music, Gurdjieff's Cosmology and Views on Art 154 8 Three Purposes of the Piano Music in Light of Gurdjieff’s Life Circumstances and Esoteric Teaching 181 Conclusions 212 Appendix A: The Movements and Music for Movements 221 Appendix B: The Struggle of the Magicians 236 Appendix C: The Harmonium Music 239 Appendix D: Chronological Order of Compositions 244 Appendix E: Biographical Sketches of Key Pupils 252 Bibliography 257 Index 275 300854 Acknowledgements This book came together due to the generosity, advice, and knowledge of many people. Dorine Tolley has been a formidable source of information and advice, and a constant support and inspiration. Some of the most memorable moments of my research involve our animated discussions in her living room over count- less pots of tea and piles of strange and wonderful books. Participating in Dorine’s Movements class has been a unique experience and I have valued spending time with this group of exceptional people. Nigel Tolley, I very much appreciate your council and wisdom over the years. I thank Professor Carole Cusack for her direction, patience, inexhaustible knowledge, and for believing in me and getting me through the difficult times. I am also grateful for the fashion tips and ironing lessons. And Don, here is your special mention as was promised over the many fabulous home-cooked meals you provided (which always included copious left-overs). These meals were restorative in more ways than one. Thank you for your good humour and super special library assistance. Joseph Azize is an encyclopaedia of Gurdjieff learning, and has been a valuable source of knowledge. I thank him sincerely for all his time and encouragement. I would also like to thank the following people for generously speaking with me in person about the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann piano music: Dushka Howarth, Gert-Jan Blom, Wim van Dullemen, Solange Claustres, Charles Ketcham, Laurence Rosenthal, Tom A.G. Daly, Sophia Wellbeloved, Annette Courtenay- Mayers, Julian Keble, Norman Higgins, Elan Sicroff, Ken Adie, Michael Griffith, and Roger Lipsey. Special thanks to Gert-Jan and Tom, who gave me a lot of time and material. Gert-Jan, I appreciated the opportunity to play Gurdjieff’s own harmonium! I am grateful to Elan Sicroff, Laurence Rosenthal, and Charles Ketcham for personally playing for me remarkable renditions of the Gurdjieff/ de Hartmann piano music, which were a privilege to experience. My family have been, and always are, wonderful. Special thanks to Mum for being the best mother, and for reading over my work and getting so involved and interested in my topic. My love Sebastiaan, you are my rock, and give me motivation and confidence. Alex Norman, you have nurtured me in my academic journey right from my undergraduate days. I have fond memories of extravagant Badde Manors breakfasts in Glebe. Thank you for encouraging me to do a Ph.D. and for being there. viii Acknowledgements Thank you to the following people for reading my drafts with such care: Carole Cusack, Joseph Azize, Jay Johnston, Alex Norman, Chris Hartney, Mum, Dorine Tolley, Paul van Oyen, Sebastiaan van Oyen, Joy Portugal, Venetia Robertson, Zoe Alderton, Tom A.G. Daly, David Pecotic, Daniel Rojas, Ian Shanahan, Mario Baghos, and Tina Burge. Finally, I would like to thank all the animals that played key roles in the formation of this book during my pet-sitting days: Strudel, Gracie, Fidel, Ka, the late Mr Dibblesworth, Max, Sam, Lili Kamala Johnston, Monsieur Benson, Nemo, Muffy, Benny, the late Miss Christabel, Satchmo, Bismarck, Neville, Boris, Bernie, Monte, and the fish with no name. I could not have done it with- out you. 300854 Music Definitions and Abbreviations of Texts Antiphony A call and response style of singing, usually where one or more soloists sing in alternation with a choir. Appoggiatura An ‘ornamental’ note or dissonant melodic decoration that seeks to be resolved by leaning toward another note in very close proximity. Cadence A melodic or harmonic formula involving the move- ment of two chords that occurs at the end of a compo- sition, section, or phrase, usually conveying the impression of a momentary or permanent conclusion. Dissonance A musical sound that requires resolution, and brings an element of tension or disturbance to the music. This is, of course, relative to the musical setting in which it occurs. Drone Also known as pedal point, it is a long-held note or combinations of notes, normally in the bass. Equal temperament Where the octave is divided into twelve equidistant semitones (the smallest step in the Western music sys- tem). No interval other than the octave is acoustically pure. The principle of equal temperament was most clearly expounded by the Chinese Prince Tsai-yu in 1596 and by Marin Mersenne in 1635. The system was universally adopted in Germany around 1800, and in France and England around 1850. Harmonic series A series of composite notes (harmonics) that accom- pany all notes produced by musical instruments. A sounding body tuned to give the note C, for example, also gives more faintly the C an octave above and the G a fifth above that, as well as a host of higher notes where intervals between notes become smaller and the sounds become fainter as the series ascends. Harmonics occur because a vibrating body, such as a string, vibrates simultaneously as a whole and in sec- tions of one-half, one-third, one-fourth, and so on, of its entire length. A diagram of the first sixteen notes of the harmonic series beginning on a low G can be viewed in Chapter 7. However, notes in the diagram are approximate, as notes in the series differ slightly from equal temperament tuning. 300854 x Music Definitions and Abbreviations of Texts Homophony A musical texture where individual instrumental and vocal parts move simultaneously as blocks of har- mony. This is in contrast to polyphony, where parts move independently of each other. Interval The difference in pitch between any two notes. Intervals can be determined precisely by the ratio of the frequencies of the notes or, taking notes in equal temperament tuning, according to the number of semitones or chromatic steps contained in the inter- val. Intervals of the octave, fifth, and fourth are known as ‘perfect’ intervals. Where the octave is acoustically ‘perfect’ or pure in equal temperament tuning as it derives from the harmonic series, intervals of the fourth and fifth are indistinguishably close to natural intervals of the harmonic series. Mode In its most general sense, a mode is simply the selec- tion of tones, arranged in a scale, that form the basic tonal substance of a composition. In its narrower sense, the term denotes the medieval church modes that dominated European music for eleven hundred years, and continued to influence composers for at least another four hundred years. It is the latter defini- tion that is applied here. St. Ambrose (c.340–397), Bishop of Milan, set out four eight-note modes based on earlier Greek modes. Pope Gregory (c.540–604) added four more modes, referring to the Ambrosian modes as ‘authentic modes’, and his new modes as ‘plagal modes’.