[center]Recorded December 2003 ECM New Series 1888
A fascinating new project by German cellist Anja Lechner and Greek pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos, “Chants, Hymns and Dances”,could be subtitled “Music from the Crossroads of the World”. It is a project that blurs the dividing lines between East and West, between composition and arrangement and improvi- sation, and between contemporary and traditional music. At the centre of the repertoire are compositions by Tsabropoulos, which take as their inspirational starting point ancient Byzantine hymns, and music by the Armenian-born philosopher- composer Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff (c.1877-1949) which draws upon melodies and rhythms, both sacred and secular, of the Caucasus, the Middle East and Central Asia.
01 Chant from a Holy Book 02 Bayaty 03 Prayer 04 Duduki 05 Interlude I 06 Trois Morceaux après des hymn 07 Trois Morceaux après des hymn 08 Trois Morceaux après des hymn 09 Dance 10 Chant 11 Interlude II 12 Assyrian Women Mourners 13 Armenian Song 14 No. 11 15 Woman’s Prayer 16 Chant from a Holy Book, var. 1