G.I. Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff International Review

Editorial Introduction

Some Pupils of Gurdjieff


Thanks to the encouragement, support and contributions of readers, twelve of the sixteen pieces herein were written or translated specifically for this issue. We are grateful to Victor Kholodkov in San Diego who brought Ziga Valishevsky’s 1919 pencil sketch of Gurdjieff to our attention, and who also sent us a Russian copy of the 1914 “Around the Theatre” notice of Gurdjieff’s ballet Struggle of the Magicians from The Voice of Moscow. We regret that page limitations in our printed issue do not allow us to include six additional articles we prepared, but readers can look forward to them in future issues.

This issue is dedicated to the speedy recovery of Michael Smyth of Abintra Books whose recent illness prevented him from completing a sketch of A. L. Staveley for this issue.

J. Walter Driscoll
Greg Loy

Notable New Releases

Gurdjieff / de Hartmann Music for the Piano Volume III: Hymns, Prayers and Rituals. Three CDs performed by Charles Ketcham and Laurence Rosenthal, Wergo LC 00846. “We find in Hymns, Prayers and Rituals undoubtedly the most profound reflection of Gurdjieff the Master. Although quite varied in form and somewhat in style, these pieces all share the unmistakable mark of the depth of his inner feeling and sensitivity … the hymns … do not correspond to the conventional notion of music sung by church congregations or choirs. They might instead be viewed as expressions of inner states in which man confronts his inmost self.” (From the album notes by Eugene E. Foster.)

Gurdjieff’s Music for the Movements composed in collaboration with Thomas de Hartmann. Wim van Dullemen, piano. Herwijnen, Holland: Channel Crossings, CCS 15298, (www.channelclassics.com), two CDs contain 46 pieces including some fragments and pieces of unknown origin.

Gurdjieff / de Hartmann [Music] Hidden Sources. Alessandra Celletti, piano, Rome: KHA, 1999, (www.kha.it). One CD with 18 selections that provide a representative sampling of Gurdjieff’s music.

A Lively Oracle: a Centennial Celebration of P. L. Travers, Creator of Mary Poppins. Ellen Dooling Draper and Jenny Koralek, editors. New York: Larson Publications, 1999, 224p., index. Sixteen eloquent, informed and deeply appreciative tributes, not only about Travers’ beloved Mary Poppins novels but also for her enduring contributions as a storyteller and myth-spinner. Includes three major articles by Travers. Her article, “The Fairy Tale as Teacher” evokes the awakening effect of fairy tales and examines Beelzebub’s Tales as an exceptional example of their power. “Here is a fairy tale for our time, a piece of objective writing that we cannot read without in some sense experiencing it.”

Heart Without Measure: Work with Madame de Salzmann. Halifax: Shaila Press, 1999, 218p., (www.shailapress.com). Drawing on his private journals, Professor Ravi Ravindra sketches an admiring and grateful portrait of Jeanne de Salzmann through the decade he studied with her as his teacher and international leader of the Gurdjieff Foundation.

This webpage © 2000 Gurdjieff Electronic Publishing
Featured: Spring 2000 Issue, Vol. III (2)
Revision: April 1, 2000