Gurdjieff Kwartet

Acte Préalable continues its exploration of little-known and, up to now, unheard Polish repertoire. Their rapidly-growing catalogue contains some of the better-known Poles - Chopin being an obvious example - as well as a smattering of releases of Bartók and Beethoven. However, with the apparent embarrassment of musical riches to be found in Poland, they have chosen to stick with a continuing string of world-premiere recordings of Polish composers both new and old. Here we have what might be the final instalment of Lessel’s chamber music. Much was considered lost, and his first string quartet only one complete movement has survived was a rather recent discovery.

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 Levon Eskenian, Tigran Kuzikyan, and Manfred Eicher.

D'origine grecque et arménienne, G. I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949) exerça une influence aussi déterminante que souterraine sur la culture moderne. Auteur, chorégraphe, provocateur clairvoyant, il fut l'un des maîtres spirituels laits les plus originaux de l'Occident contemporain.

Karol Szymanowski & Paweł Szymański - Kwartet Akademos (2007) {Polskie Radio Katowice PRKCD 084}
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© 2007 Polskie Radio Katowice | PRKCD 084
Classical / Contemporary Classical / String Quartet

Kwartet Akademos was founded in 1997. The team members improved their skills at post-graduate studies: Anna Szabelka at the Music Academy in Warsaw in the class of prof. Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, while the other members of the quartet at the Music Academy in Katowice in the chamber music class of Marek Mos. In 2007, he was invited to Carnegie Hall in New York for the "The ESQ Workshop: Beethoven Quartets" course, which was led by members of The Emerson String Quartet.

Following on from their critically acclaimed debut album (Métamorphoses: Haydn, Ligeti & Brahms), the Dudok Kwartet Amsterdam returns to the Resonus label with a compelling programme of works around the theme of counterpoint & labyrinth.

For their third album for the Resonus Classics label, the acclaimed Dudok Quartet Amsterdam releases a new recording based around the theme of solitude.

The survival the Leiden Choirbooks from the iconoclastic fury in 1566 seems to indicate that the manuscripts were carefully kept somewhere under lock and key in the church. Today, these choirbooks provide unique and extremely valuable proof of the rich musical life of 16th century Holland. Even though musical practice flourished greatly in Dutch churches in 16th century, extremely little evidence of this has survived in Dutch archives and libraries. Of the countless music manuscripts that were used by singers of the liturgical hours as well as others, only a fraction of these have survived the ravages of time.