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Newsletter 3/2002
A new CD with Gurdjieff - de Hartmann
piano music: 'The Voyage Within' by Ugo Bonessi
The old sailor in Joseph Conrad's novel 'The Nigger of the Narcissus',
perhaps one of his most touching protagonists, asked those near
to him to be buried in the sea, because 'the sea knows no tyrants'.
However out of place this phrase might seem as an introduction
to a review of Ugo Bonessi's first CD, dedicated to the piano
music of Gurdjieff and De Hartmann, it may serve as a compass
for our 'Voyage Within', as Ugo chose to qualify the music on
his CD.
In one way, Joseph Conrad's phrase reminds us that since
times immemorial, the waters of the sea symbolise the endless
spiritual realm where the soul can reside untouched by the
injustice of earthly conditions. On the other hand, the 'tyrants'
can be interpreted as the fanaticism of the mind and the obsession
to possess, both incompatible with the spiritual realm, as
well as with the art of guiding our voyage towards it. In
other words, Ugo's qualification of the music and hearing
how he performs it, both convince me of the importance of
leaving the known and its conditioning behind on our voyage.
Ugo's playing radiates lightness, by his delicate touch,
and harmony, by the well-balanced equilibrium between left
and right hand. These musical qualities allow the listener
the freedom to form his or her own impression of the music
on the CD, which, again, offers a well-balanced selection
of both oriental songs and rhythms and the hymns.
Ugo's long involvement in this music should not go unmentioned,
nor his long practice as accompanist for the Movement classes
in Rome.
Most typical of his serious approach, he absorbed Gurdjieff's
and De Hartmann's music for many, many years, before attempting
this first CD. In my opinion, his attempt is most successful
and I especially recommend his fine representations of the
selections taken from the two Schott albums.
In a time where many of the 'known' names in this musical
area seem to be in a hurry to release 'definitive' or 'conclusive'
collections, Ugo's playing in fact reminds us that the voyage
has only just started.
Wim van Dullemen
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Info
Curriculum Vitae
Ugo Bonessi was born in Rome in 1961. He took his degree in
piano with Maestro Fausto di Cesare.
He also attended the DAMS of the University of Bologna.
He has been present on the Rome music scene for many years,
not only on the concert stage, where he has performed as a soloist,
in duo piano performances, with orchestra, and in duos for piano
and voice, but also as a musicologist, teacher, and organiser
of concerts.
He has organised and performed in several festivals of Russian
music, sponsored by the Soviet Embassy, as well as in festivals
dedicated to Scriabin and Satie.
As a musicologist, he has contributed to the Treccani Istituto
dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, and has published numerous articles
and held conferences on Western, classical, Arabic and Indian
music.
He has also been active as a teacher of music in the Italian
public school system and, for several years, was director of
a polyphonic chorus.
A frequent traveller to India, he has studied the classical
singing traditions of khyal and dhrupad.
He has also studied harmonic voice techniques with David Hykes.
He has been interested in Gurdjieff's music since 1987. He also
accompanied and participated in movements classes since 1989.
In 1996, he published a memoir with Rizzoli, 'Mi abbandono al
Flusso della vita', written in collaboration with Alessandro
Cannavo, currently a journalist for the Corriere della Sera.
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