Between 13 and 25 December 1923 the Gurdjieff Institute gave a series of eight public demonstrations of the Sacred Gymnastics and Movements at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris. The music, composed by Gurdjieff to accompany these dances, was orchestrated by Thomas de Hartmann and performed by an orchestra of thirty-five musicians. In January 1924, Gurdjieff and his pupils sailed to America for a series of public demonstrations in New York, Boston and Chicago. At Gurdjieff''s request, de Hartmann adapted the full orchestral scores for a smaller ensemble that would accompany the demonstrations there.

The four CDs enclosed with this book contain both the Paris orchestrations and the American versions, all recorded for the first time by the Metropole Orchestra and the Little Orchestra. An addenda section features music that was intended for Gurdjieff''s unfinished ballet The Struggle of the Magicians. In order to complete the reconstruction of the orchestral Gurdjieff/de Hartmann music, the Oriental Suite, compiled by de Hartmann in 1956, is included as well.

The 255 page book is profusely illustrated with many new photos and unique historical documents. It further contains recollections of people who were present when these demonstrations were given, as well as a sampling of the extensive press coverage that the Gurdjieff Institute generated during its first (and final) public appearance.

Oriental Suite The Complete Orchestral Music 1923-1924 Compiled, researched and produced by Gert-Jan Blom.

Contents

• Sacred dances
  
• Introduction by Gert-Jan Blom
  
• The Gurdjieff Institute Arrives in Paris, 1922
  
• Theatre des Champs-Elysees, December 1923
  
• Gurdjieff's First American Visit, 1924
  
• About the Public Demonstrations
  
• The struggle of the Magicians
  
• The Gurdjieff/de Hartmann collaboration
  Historical Recollections
  
• Some Memories of the Prieure, by Mary C. Bell
  
• Dancing, by Anna Butkovsky-Hewitt
  
• Demonstrations, by Thomas de Hartmann
  
• New Cult: Forest Temple of Hard Work and Rough Food, by E. C. Bowyer
  
• New Life Cult for ''Harmonious Development'', by E. C. Bowyer
  
• The New Cult: An Interview With the Master, by E. C. Bowyer
  
• Forest Philosophers, by E. C. Bowyer
  
• A Visit to Gourdyev, by Denis Saurat
  
• The journalists at the Prieure: The Demonstrations by Tcheslaw Tchekhovitch
  
• The ''Forest Philosophers'' by Clifford Sharpe
  
• Taking the Life Cure in Gurdjieff's School by Maud Hoffman
  The Theatre de Champs-Elysees Programme
  Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man
  
• Prospectus No. 1
  
• America by Thomas and Olga de Hartmann
  
• Gurdjieff Movements Demonstration by Louise Welch
  
• Gurdjieff Heads the Newest Cult, Which Harks Back to Ancient Days by Raymond G. Carroll
  
• The First American Demonstration by C. S. Nott
  
• The Second American Demonstration by Gorham Munson
  The Carnegie Hall (New York) Programme
  
• A Russian, Gurdjieff, Brings a New Orientalism
  
• Gurdjieff Rites Amaze Boston (Review)
  
• Gurdjieff Work Well Received (Review)
  The Orchestra Hall (Chicago) Programme
  
• Dances of Old and Far Away Revealed by Gurdjieff Pupils (Review) by Edward Moore
  
• The last American Demonstration by C. S. Nott
  Notes to the Recordings by Gert-Jan Blom
  
• Track notes
  
• Oriental Suite
  
• The Discs
  
• The Tracks
  Chronology for the Orchestral Music USED IN THE 1923/24 Demonstrations by Thomas A. G. Daly
  
• I-The Conductor's Scores
  
• II-The Part Scores
  
• III-Other Scores of Interest
  
• Credits
  
• Notes