Music and Time Annotation << Back The Music of Georgy Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann A.А. Rovner The music of early 20th century Russian mystic philosopher Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff is connected with Caucasian and particularly Armenian culture, as well as Russian and world culture. Gurdjieff was a seeker of ancient mystical spiritual knowledge standing at the source of practically all religions. He travelled through many Asian countries and studied the mystical standing of such religions as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Then he appeared in St. Petersburg and in Moscow in 1912 and began drawing people to himself, who became his spiritual adepts, and instructing them in spiritual practice. He met with them and spent hours talking about his mystical experience and about the philosophy formed by him. In the 1920s Gurdjieff settled in Paris, where he established the “Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man.” At that time, he began developing his artistic abilities more actively – composing music and creating sacred dances or “movements” – a sort of choreography that he himself created. Being a native of the Caucasus, Gurdjieff composed melodies endowed with the style of the music of Caucasian peoples. Some of the melodies he composed himself, while others he sang that he had heard somewhere before. His disciple, composer Thomas de Hartmann notated his teacher’s melodies, creating piano compositions in their technique continuing the traditions of the Russian piano school. Gurdjieff’s and de Hartmann’s music presents an attempt of turning particularly to the sacred sources of art and bears elements of esoteric knowledge. Keywords: Georgy Gurdjieff, Thomas de Hartmann, piano music, folk melodies, esoteric knowledge, Caucasian music, Armenian musical traditions. DOI: 10.25791/music.7.2026.1418 Pp. 23-28.