Elan Sicroff | |
|---|---|
 Katharina Paul & Elan Sicroff 2011 | |
| Occupation | Pianist |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Website | sicroff |
Elan David Sicroff (born March 20, 1950[citation needed]) is a concert pianist, recording artist, and educator. He interprets the music composed byThomas de Hartmann (1885–1956) and thespiritualistGeorge Gurdjieff (1866 or 1867–1949).
As a teen, Sicroff trained as a classical pianist at theJuilliard Preparatory School underJeaneane Dowis, specializing in the Hungarian composerBéla Bartók. "When I first found Bartók’s music, I was 14," he recalled in a 2010 interview. "My teacher gave me theThree Rondos on Folk Tunes, from Hungary. I was at the Juilliard Preparatory School, and I needed something modern for the final exam of my first year there. I played it through once and I didn’t understand it. The second time, I was addicted. For years, I was playing only Bartók."[1]
He later studied at theOberlin Conservatory. He attended theInternational Academy for Continuous Education in Sherborne, UK, directed byJohn G. Bennett, one of the leading exponents of Gurdjieff's teachings.[2]
From 1975 to 1979 he trained with Mme.Olga de Hartmann, the composer's widow. About his training with Mme. de Hartmann, Sicroff said, "Her greatest interest in the interpretation and performance of her husband’s music was that feeling should be transmitted through it. She was unimpressed by fingers running up and down the keyboard, and she would sometimes say things that would irritate me. She would say that none of the pianists on the world stage really played with feeling. This was very hard for me to accept, and it took many years for it to really become clear to me, just what she was talking about."[1]
In 1982, Sicroff undertook a concert tour of the US, introducing de Hartmann's neglected works to a wider audience.[2]
Sicroff has performed at London’sWigmore Hall,Carnegie Recital Hall in New York,[3]Bulgaria's National Academy of Music, and Madrid's Muzeum Hudby, as well as with theSanta Fe Symphony. He has also performed atMcGill University,Bowdoin College, theUniversity of California, Los Angeles,Smith College, theUniversity of California, Berkeley, Boston'sLongy School of Music, theBerklee College of Music,[4] and theRoyal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, Ireland.[citation needed]
He lives in theNetherlands.[citation needed]
Between 1918 and 1927, De Hartmann and Gurdjieff co-composed a repertoire ofsacred music, which has remained in circulation;[5] however, de Hartmann's catalog of classical music has been largely overlooked. In 2006, guitaristRobert Fripp (of the bandKing Crimson), an adherent of the teachings of Gurdjieff and an admirer of de Hartmann's music, proposed that Sicroff take on the task of bringing the Russian composer's music back into concert halls. "Fripp said to me, 'If you don’t get this music known, nobody is going to do it,'" said Sicroff. "The Gurdjieff music is safe. Many, many people are playing the Gurdjieff now. It’s the de Hartmann classical music that is still sitting under a rock."[6] For this purpose, theThomas de Hartmann Project was conceived.[7] Thomas Daly, the executor of the estate of Olga and Thomas de Hartmann, approved the project, and permitted de Hartmann's unpublished works to be distributed and performed.[8]
A recording project, begun in the Netherlands in 2011 and produced byGert-Jan Blom, artistic director of theMetropole Orkest, was completed in 2016. A seven-CD set,The Thomas de Hartmann Project, featuring Sicroff (with accompanists) performing the composer's solo piano, chamber and vocal works, will be released on the Basta Music label in September 2016.[9]
Sicroff has performed de Hartmann’s music in performance with violinist Juliette Zeelander,[3] cellistAnneke Janssen and sopranoNina Lejderman. He has also performed de Hartmann'sViolin Sonata Op. 51 with violinist Katharina Paul.[10] In addition, Sicroff has programmed a lecture-recital which chronicles the composer’s life and work with live performance, recordings, and photos.[11][12][13]
Sicroff has released three albums:[14]
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