Anthony Blake’s reading of Beelzebub’s Tales is now available as an Audiobook at Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. I purchased it from Audible, and am pleased to have done so. I have already commented on Blake’s reading of some of Gurdjieff’s and Ouspensky’s work (see the links below), but here I wish to address another issue. One of the attractive features of this recording is the use of the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann music, played by Wim van Dullemen.
The music is not a secondary feature, it is a critical element; an intrinsic part of the success of this project. When I first heard the music, I thought to myself, “this is nice, I hope it doesn’t waste valuable listening time.” I think that what happened was that when I heard that there would be this music, I experienced the associative thought that I have many recordings of the music, and could put them on any time I wished. This led to the “thought” I have described.
But from the moment I heard the playing, my attitude changed. It is impossible, or at least beyond my capacity to explain why it should be so, but the fact is that I experienced the music as in continuity with the reading, and making possible the better digestion of what had been read. I am not sure that I would say the music was essential in and of itself, but I would say that it helped to receive and “assimilate” the reading the way it has occurred. At first I thought the music might open each chapter, but that is not so. However, when it does appear, the playing adds a feeling element.
I can barely add to what I have said before about the value of hearing someone else read. There are certain words which we subliminally discount, not stopping to ponder them. I cannot say precisely what it is about Anthony’s reading, except that something of his own understanding comes through, and what he has pondered is given a fine, barely noticeable position which does not accord with how I read and understand. Let me take but one example:
First, the word “coat,” as in “coating higher being-bodies.” It is odd, perhaps, since “to coat” is “to clothe, to cover with a coating.” Yet the higher being-bodies do not obviously cover the physical body. They are often thought of as forming inside the physical body, even if that formation permeates the physical body, like a substance that enters into a cotton fabric. The Russian is облекаются, which means “clothe (or invest) themselves.” It seems either that Gurdjieff was using a word which came as close as possible to what he wished to express, but had to settle for something close, and a little inexact, or else, in some way we cannot perceive, the higher bodies envelop the physical body. It could be, I don’t know, but my point is that it was Blake’s reading which prompted me to wonder.
Anthony Blake reading “The Psychology of Man’s Possible Evolution” on Audible
