Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff
Gurdjieff (born Jan 13, 1866, died Oct. 29, 1949) has been a very big influence on me throughout much of my life. After reading P D Ouspensky’s “In Search of the Miraculous” when I was 17, I found my way to “All and Everything” while living in India, a few years later. I read the first two books: “Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson” and “Meetings With Remarkable Men” the requisite 3 times, as told to do by the author. As a budding musician, I tried to compose within the numerical framework he had laid out—or something of the kind.
Fast forward many years. His ideas have remained foremost in my thinking. I’ve met only a handful of people in my life who ever read these works. Then a few years ago, the books came out in paperback, including the arcane 3rd work: “Life is Real Only Then, When ‘I Am'”. I read it—-didn’t do much for me. Considered that maybe my fascination had ended.
Now appears Gurdjieff’s “Harmonic Development”—the Complete Harmonium Recordings 1948-1949. Plenty of text to accompany the 100 plus hours of musical—-what? Meanderings? Put-on? Master works? I don’t know. Help!