The Gurdjieff Ensemble, Levon Eskenian
Zartir
Tracked express shipping from Italy, no customs or import VAT in the EU. Shipping costs
*Deluxe packaging* The third album from Levon Eskenian’s remarkable ensemble is its most adventurous to date. As well as reclaiming the music of esoteric teacher G. I. Gurdjieff for folk instrumentation, Zartir situates Gurdjieff in a tradition of Armenian bards and troubadours including Ashugh Jivani, Baghdasar Tbir and the legendary Sayat-Nova. In parallel, an emphasis on pieces for sacred dance reaches its apex in The Great Prayer, an entrancing collaboration between the Gurdjieff Ensemble and the National Chamber Choir of Armenia, which draws upon ritual music of multiple faiths. Arranger Eskenian says, “I believe The Great Prayer is more than a mere ‘composition’. It is one of the most profound and transformative pieces I have encountered in Gurdjieff’s work.” Zartir was recorded in Yerevan in 2021 and mixed and completed in Munich in November 2022 by Manfred Eicher and Levon Eskenian.
Format
1: 2 duduks, bass duduk, 2 pkus, kamancha, blul, kanon, oud, tar, santur, tmbuk, triangle, bells
2: kanon, tar, santur, oud, duduk, dap
3: kanon, oud, blul, dap
4: 3 duduks, bass duduk, blul, dap, tmbuk, cymbal
5: duduk, bass duduk, blul, kamancha, kanon, oud, santur, tar, tmbuk, triangle
6: voice, kamancha, tar, duduk
7: voice, kamancha, tar, 2 duduks, oud, dap
8: duduk, tar, santur, dap
9: 2 duduks, bass duduk, oud, santur
10: kanon, oud, blul, dap, tombak
11: voice, kamancha, blul, 2 duduks, tar, santur, kanon, oud, dap
12: blul, kanon, santur, oud, dap, tombak, tmbuk
13: voice, duduk, bass duduk, blul, kamancha, tar, santur, oud
14: 2 duduks, bass duduk, blul, kamancha, tar, kanon, oud, tmbuk, singing bowls, bur var, cymbal, mixed choir
Georges I. Gurdjieff's music is arranged from Thomas de Hartmann's piano transcriptions and symphonic orchestral versions.
Recorded December 2021
Radio Recording Studio Yerevan
Mixed November 2022
by [...], [...],
[...] and [...] (engineers)
at Bavaria Musikstudios Munich
Cover Photo: Still from Sergei Parajanov's
film 'The Color of Pomegranates'.
Liner photos: [...], [...], [...] (19),
Courtesy of RAA (3), Courtesy of Charents Museum
of Literature and Arts (4)
Cover photo provided by courtesy of the
National Cinema Center of Armenia.
Supported by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation,
Susanne Hinrichs, and Peter Klein.
An ECM Production
℗ © 2023 ECM Records GmbH, München (on O-card back; on tray card)
℗ © 2023 ECM Records GmbH (in booklet)
℗ 2023 ECM Records GmbH (on disc)
Printed in Germany
Release notes
1: 2 duduks, bass duduk, 2 pkus, kamancha, blul, kanon, oud, tar, santur, tmbuk, triangle, bells 2: kanon, tar, santur, oud, duduk, dap 3: kanon, oud, blul, dap 4: 3 duduks, bass duduk, blul, dap, tmbuk, cymbal 5: duduk, bass duduk, blul, kamancha, kanon, oud, santur, tar, tmbuk, triangle 6: voice, kamancha, tar, duduk 7: voice, kamancha, tar, 2 duduks, oud, dap 8: duduk, tar, santur, dap 9: 2 duduks, bass duduk, oud, santur 10: kanon, oud, blul, dap, tombak 11: voice, kamancha, blul, 2 duduks,…
| 1 | Pythia | 3:35 | |
| 2 | No. 10 | 3:17 | |
| 3 | Sayyid Chant And Dance No. 41 | 3:15 | |
| 4 | Introduction And Funeral Ceremony | 5:19 | |
| 5 | Oriental Dance | 1:56 | |
| 6 | Kankaravor Enker = Friend Of Talents | 4:16 | |
| 7 | Dard Mi Ani = Do Not Fret | 3:54 | |
| 8 | Thirty Gestures | 1:15 | |
| 9 | Prayer And Despair | 4:42 | |
| 10 | Sayyid Chant And Dance No. 42 | 3:39 | |
| 11 | Ashkharhes Me Panjara E = The World Is A Window | 4:16 | |
| 12 | Trembling Dervish | 4:24 | |
| 13 | Zartir = Wake Up | 4:10 | |
| 14 | The Great Prayer | 7:11 |
- Levon Eskenian
- Arranged By [All Arrangements By], Directed By [Artistic Director], Mixed By, Text By [Translations (Song Texts Tracks 6, 7, 11, 13 (English))]
- Sascha Kleis
- Design
- Gagik Hakobyan
- Duduk
- Norayr Gapoyan
- Duduk, Duduk [Bass Duduk], Reeds [Pku]
- Emmanuel Hovhannisyan
- Duduk, Reeds [Pku]
- Tigran Kuzikyan
- Engineer [Recording], Mixed By [Mixed By (Engineer)]
- Avag Margaryan
- Flute [Blul]
- Mesrop Khalatyan
- Frame Drum [Dap], Bass Drum [Tmbuk], Bells, Triangle
- Armen Ayvazyan
- Kamancha, Cymbal
- Astghik Snetsunts
- Kanun [Kanon]
- Meri Vardanyan
- Kanun [Kanon]
- Steve Lake
- Liner Notes [English]
- Manfred Eicher
- Mixed By, Producer [Album Produced By]
- Michael Hinreiner
- Mixed By [Mixed By (Engineer)]
- Aram Nikoghosyan
- Oud
- NCCA
- Photography By [Liner Photo (19)]
- Nagy Attila
- Photography By [Liner Photos]
- Akriviadis
- Photography By [Liner Photos]
- Davit Avagyan
- Tar (lute) [Tar]
- P.D. Ouspensky
- Text By [Quote In Booklet (English)]
- Orestis Moustidis
- Tombak
- Thomas de Hartmann
- Transcription By (1 to 5, 8 to 10, 12, 14)
- Vladimir Papikyan
- Voice, Santur, Percussion [Burvar], Bass Drum [Tmbuk], Singing Bowls
