Music at Camp Caravan

Are you planning a visit to a Camp Caravan seminar or event? We invite you to bring your musical instruments. Pianists may also have the opportunity to work with the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann Movements music.

Special Event

Save the Date
September 20-17, 2021
Lviv, Ukraine
Elan Sicroff performs Thomas de Hartmann’s piano concerto

While being mindful of the uncertainty of world circumstances including travel, please consider a trip this Sept 10-17 to the lovely city Lviv, Ukraine for a historic orchestral festival- Thomas de Hartmann in Ukraine- a Forgotten Master. The city Lviv, close to the Polish border in Western Ukraine, is a longtime cultural center, considered by many to be one of the more attractive tourist/travel destinations in North Europe.
Pianist Elan Sicroff, founder of the Thomas de Hartmann Project, will fulfill a longtime dream to finally perform and record de Hartmann's remarkable piano concerto.

Are you considering going?  Let us know your plans.

 

About the concerts

A collaboration has developed with Theodore Kuchar, an accomplished American/Ukrainian conductor in Lviv, Ukraine, in conjunction with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. Maestro Kuchar, who is the most recorded conductor of our time (over 100 classical CDs), is very enthusiastic about the discovery of de Hartmann’s music, in light of its high quality, cultural legacy for Ukraine, and its historic significance.

A festival of three orchestral concerts in Lviv Ukraine takes place on Sept 10, 14, and 17 this year. Each concert will feature its own distinct repertoire and will be followed by recording sessions, the result of which will be 3 new CDs of music not previously recorded or performed in our time. This is the first phase of a plan to record a comprehensive selection (5-6 CDs) of de Hartmann orchestral music, as well as possibly the opera, Esther.

The first concert program will feature de Hartmann's cello concerto (1935), played by the renowned soloist, Matt Haimovitz. The second concert will feature the composer's first Symphonie Poeme (1935), a major 55 min work. One of those programs will likely include the concerto for contrabass performed by the renowned UK artist, Leon Bosch.

The third concert will feature Elan Sicroff performing de Hartmann's remarkable piano concerto, to be conducted by Tian Hui Ng, Mt Holyoke College professor, and conductor of the Pioneer Valley Symphony.

In light of the pandemic, we can't say what the circumstances will be in a few months; but the good news is that airline tickets currently include a no-change-fee policy.

 

Gurdjieff/de Hartmann music

Thomas de Hartmann collaborated with G.I. Gurdjieff to create the Movements music and the sacred music for solo piano.

Hear Elan Sicroff perform Kurd Shepherd Melody at YouTube and learn more at the Sicroff website http://www.sicroff.com.


Thomas and Olga de Hartmann

The Thomas de Hartmann Project (TdHP)

Thomas de Hartmann collaborated with G.I. Gurdjieff to create the Movements music and the sacred music for solo piano. Less known is his extraordinary body of classical music. Under the umbrella of the education mission of the MREC, this Project aims to bring that music back to public awareness.

Elan Sicroff, pianist and artistic director, began to develop the Project in 2006. In 2010 Sicroff met Gert-Jan Blom, artistic producer for the Metropole Orkestra in the Netherlands. Together they embarked on a five-year project recording a large body of music representative of the scope of de Hartmann's work.

Recording phase of the TdHP

In the spring of 2016, they released a set of seven CDs, including vocal and chamber music and works for solo piano. The recording phase of the Project was funded primarily through private MREC donations. The next phase includes public outreach and education in the form of recitals and lecture/recitals. View www.sicroff.com for Project details.

DeHartmann and Sicroff on Dutch television

In 2016 Elan Sicroff brought de Hartmann's music to life during a one-hour Dutch broadcast featuring Elan and Katharina Naomi Paul playing de Hartmann's music, available through this link: VPRO Vrije Geluiden De Hartmann Special.

The link is to a TV broadcast that Elan did in Holland to mark the public launch of the TdH project. A popular weekly event that normally consists of three or four segments, twice a year the program is devoted to a single subject. This time it was Thomas de Hartmann. It consists of an interview with Elan, interspersed with wonderful pieces of music, some familiar, and some new. There are excerpts from the CD set. The 50-minute show starts in Dutch (don't be deterred) and quickly goes into English with Dutch subtitles.

Camp Caravan singing

The Camp Caravan community enjoys singing together. We work on opening our voices through the use of breath, relaxation, and visualization. Singing together allows us to experience the beauty and resonance of a shared sound, no matter what our personal history is with making music, or our ability to match pitches.

Some of the Gurdjieff Movements include vocalizing and the blending of voices, and our work with community singing allows us greater access.

We invite you to suggest songs for us to explore as a group, media@campcaravan.org especially easy rounds or canons, international selections, and songs that evoke a strong feeling in you.

Here are the words to some of the songs we share. Song Sheet