Ex oriente Gunter Herbig

• George lvanovich Gurdjieff (1866 - 1949): Music for the Piano, Vol. 2:
• 1 Music for the Piano, Vol. 2: No. 9, Sayyid Chant & Dance (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 04:22
• George lvanovich Gurdjieff
• 2 As If the Stormy Years Had Passed (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 04:02
• 3 The Bokharian Dervish (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 04:45
• 4 Prayer (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 02:42
• 5 Sayyid Chant & Dance No. 42 (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 06:48
• Fragments from "The Struggle of the Magicians" (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar):
• 6 Fragments from "The Struggle of the Magicians" (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar): No. 3, When Gafar and Zeinab Walk in a Somnambulistic State 04:34
• George lvanovich Gurdjieff:
• 7 Sayyid Chant & Dance No. 29 (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 05:08
• Fragments from "The Struggle of the Magicians" (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar):
• 8 Fragments from "The Struggle of the Magicians" (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar): No. 6, Tibetan Dance 02:10
• George lvanovich Gurdjieff:
• 9 Molto lento e liberamente (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 02:42
• Fragments from "The Struggle of the Magicians" (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar):
• 10 Fragments from "The Struggle of the Magicians" (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar): No. 4, — 04:52
• George lvanovich Gurdjieff:
• 11 The Resurrection of Christ (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 03:16
• 12 Méditation (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 02:21
• 13 Reading from a Sacred Book (Arr. G. Herbig for Guitar) 07:58
• Total Runtime 55:40

Info for Ex oriente

One of the great mystics of the early 20th century, George lvanovich Gurdjieff was born in Alexandropol on the border of Russian Armenia and Turkey. As a young man, he began to travel east as far as Tibet, Afghanistan and Central Asia, in search of spiritual enlightenment. Visiting ancient temples, Gurdjieff learned from spiritual teachers and absorbed music from all the places he visited. On his return to the West, he gathered a group of followers who were drawn to his charismatic personality.

One of these was the pianist and composer Thomas de Hartmann, and a unique collaboration between de Hartmann and Gurdjieff ensued which would produce well over 300 piano pieces. Gurdjieff would play his melodies on the guitar or the piano and de Hartmann would write them down, harmonize and provide them with minimalistic accompaniments. The guitarist Gunter Herbig came across Gurdjieff’s writings and music in his youth. For decades he cherished the idea of transcribing these pieces for his own instrument, but it wasn’t until he began to experiment with an electric guitar that he found a way of doing so.

Gunter Herbig, electric guitar

Gunter Herbig
was born in Brazil and grew up in Portugal and Germany. Influenced by such different cultures and aesthetic languages, he has developed a highly personal, charismatic and expressive style of playing and performance, which sets him apart from his contemporaries. The balance of Brazilian sensuousness, intense Portuguese passion and German intellect and finesse are the hallmark of his playing. His performance and interpretation philosophy centres on the personal and subjective approach to music as a direct way to create a connection between the composer, the performer and the audience, and focuses on a sense of musical adventure and exploration. His dynamic and expressive sense of adventure has made him an audience favourite on the concert platform wherever he goes and has solicited universal praise from critics in the international music world. In his distinguished teaching career, he led the guitar department of Auckland University for over twenty years and was the head of chamber music at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington.

Booklet for Ex oriente