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The idiotplayers podcast is a caravanserai of conversations with important thinkers, be-ers and doers. The idiotplayers podcast aims to explore art, creativity and expression. If there is an elephant standing in the dark, as the Sufi story goes, we want to do more than grope and theorize. We invite conversations with people who aim from the heart to make practical, the far-reaching.
Biography
Elan Sicroff is internationally known for his interpretation of the Gurdjieff / de Hartmann music. He was trained at the Juilliard School by Jeaneane Dowis, protégé of the great Rosina Lhevinne. He attended the International Academy for Continuous Education of Sherborne, Gloucestershire, England, a ‘Fourth Way’ School directed by John Godolphin Bennett, a leading exponent of Gurdjieff ’s teaching. Initially Elan was a student, and later became its Director of Music. From 1975-79, he received personal instruction in the interpretation of this music from Mme de Hartmann, widow of the composer, to whom he had been introduced by Mr. Bennett. Since then he has given numerous recitals of this music in the USA and Europe. In January 2009 he toured Italy, England and Malta. Elan has produced 2 cds, Journey to Inaccessible Places (1985, produced by Robert Fripp) and Sicroff Plays Gurdjieff (2002).
In 2010 he returned to Europe for recitals in Italy and England, including a performance at the prestigious St.John’s, Smith Square in London. His most recent CD, Laudamus… came out in June 2010. It features the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann music alongside of the early Romantic pieces de Hartmann composed at the age of 16.
Elan Sicroff’s mission is simple: to bring the fruits of an extraordinary, century-old collaboration – perhaps the first example ever of truly “global music” – to a much wider listening audience. By doing so, he illuminates and even incarnates the startling originality, versatility, humanity and mysticism of Thomas de Hartmann.
Topics
History of the Thomas de Hartmann Project; Gert Jan Blom; Katharina Paul; Thomas De Hartmann Violin Sonata Op. 51; Amstel Saxophone Quartet; Pablo Casals; An excerpt from the Violin Sonata Op. 51; Anton Arensky; bi-tonality; the musical third; the emotional colours of Hartmann’s music; Wassily Kandinsky; The Yellow Sound; Thomas De Hartmann Project personnel: Robert Fripp (Director), Gert Jan Blom (Producer); Guido Tichermann (Engineer); Steffan Maier (Advisor); Efron Marter; Will Czal and John Gerdebeke; Elan Sicroff (Directing Musician); crowd-funding with kickstarter; the 2nd phase of the Thomas de Hartmann project; getting out of the sandbox; three lines of work; conscience; personal growth as a musician; application of the enneagram to the project; ways of getting involved with the De Hartmann Project.
Links
contact tdhp@sicroff.com
Thomas De Hartmann Project on facebook
Thomas de Hartmann: A Composer’s Life, By John Mangan