Move Records

The Way of the Seeker

This disc contains just one 50 minute work in six movements entitled 'The way of the seeker', a new composition by Larry Sitsky.

Judith Crispin describes the work thus in her notes in the CD booklet: "Sitsky's highly virtuosic work for solo piano The Way of the Seeker (completed 11 December 2004) is dedicated to the Canadian pianist and composer Gordon Rumson. This work takes its title from the English translation of Hakim Sanai's mystical text the Sair al-Ibad ila'l Maad (the Way of the Seeker) written in the 11th century. Abul Majd bin Majdud bin Adam, also known as Hakim Sanai, was one of the three great mystical Mathnavi poets of Persia, the others being Shaikh Faridu'd-Din 'Attar and Jalalu'd-Din Rumi. The youngest of these, Jalalu'd-Din Rumi, expressed his great admiration for Attar and Sanai in writing "Attar is the soul and Sanai its two eyes, I came after Sanai and Attar." In the translation of Sanai's Sair al-Ibad ila'l Maad by Idries Shah, the text is divided into definite sections. In The Way of the Seeker, Sitsky follows these divisions, using quotations from each section as subtitles for each of the six musical movements. Each movement should be understood as a meditation on its corresponding quotation.

I: Prologue ... pp ... you are not of water, yet stir into movement, not of earth, yet lend it shape.

II: Birth ... mf ... there is in the soul an intuition of a superior state.

III: The Guide ... p ... for your journey on this arduous path, your only provision will be fire ...

IV: The Journey ... f ... you are prey to evil delusions.

V: Beyond Time ... ff ... pay the ferryman his fare, and leave behind the world of names ...

VI: Epilogue: The Man of Light ... pp ... the distractions from The Way are many in your world ...

Written in the tradition of Liszt, Busoni, Godowsky and Scriabin, The Way of the Seeker also responds to Sitsky's western musical heritage. A student of the virtuoso pianist and Busoni disciple Egon Petri, Sitsky was initiated into an esoteric understanding of composition that has persisted throughout his entire creative output. Like many of Sitsky's pieces, The Way of The Seeker begins in darkness; the first movement is all in a low register, and ends in light; in this case the Epilogue is quite literally entitled "The Man of Light". This emergence from darkness into light is a recurrent theme in those of Sitsky's pieces that document the various stages of the mystical journey. In this regard The Way of The Seeker can be regarded as a close relative of Sitsky's Twelve Mystical Preludes after the Nuctemeron of Apollonius of Tyana (1991). In composing The Way of The Seeker, Sitsky intended to generate a largescale virtuosic work from as few pre-compositional determinants as possible. Each of the six movements is assigned a predominant dynamic, but the shaping of these dynamics inside each section is left to the performer. The durations of the movements telescope over the length of the work." - Judith Crispin

Artist

Press quotes

“Rhapsodic! Hugely ambitious! This is Larry Sitsky's State of the Union address. I'm terribly impressed. The piece has a massive architecture, and yet never a sense of gradiosity ... there's always a through line. Michael Kieran Harvey is in scintillating form ... this is a real meeting of minds. A journey from darkness into light.”

— Martin Buzacott, ABC Radio National - The Music Show

“Michael Kieran Harvey is a super-virtuoso and musician of great verve and power. But also, he understands sound in a deep and meaningful way. Listen (to) the rhythmic life of his playing, the care and sensitivity to the very quality of the sound as well as the shape and direction of phrases. He can execute a startling number of notes in a very short space of time, evenly and accurately, but always in the service of the music -- and here most crucially -- its inner meaning. His performance of The Way of the Seeker reveals him in total command and filled with creative fire. This is an outstanding artistic achievement for he indeed 'gets it' and his understanding adds significantly to the potency of the composition.”

Read full review

— Gordon Rumson, Music and Vision website http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2009/05/sitsky.htm

Audio previews

Track Listing

Performers

• Michael Kieran Harvey · piano · all except track 7
• Larry Sitsky · track 7

Composer

Where to buy

The Way of the Seeker is available for download from the iTunes Music Store.
It's available for streaming through Apple Music.

The Way of the Seeker is available as as CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer secure online ordering.

Move CDs can be ordered through music retailers across Australia including Readings.

Product details

List price

$25.00 AUD (around )

Total playing time

54 minutes 55 seconds

Contributor

Australian Broadcast Corporation
Benjamin Thomas
Judith Crispin

Producer

Brooke Green

Engineer

Veronika Vincze

Editing

Vaughan McAlley

Mastering

Martin Wright

Venue

Hobart Conservatorium

Release date

2006

Copyright

© 2006 Move Records

Phonogram

℗ 2006 Move Records

Categories

Australian, Classical, Keyboard

Catalogue number

MD 3309

Alternate catalogue number

MD3309

Barcode

EAN 9314574330922