"Beautiful, evocative, compelling, dense at times while deeply tinged in heart and soul, Uwe Steinmetz’s brilliant original compositions are eminently suited for the lens of the modern day string quartet form. Masterfully brought to focus by the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, enriched and enlivened by jazz violin wizard Mads Tolling, and highlighted by the composer’s own hard swinging virtuosic saxophone playing, the new record of Uwe Steinmetz and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet is a must-listen for anyone with ears for what’s happening in contemporary cross-genre music making."
David Balakrishnan
violinist/composer, founder of the Turtle Island String Quartet
Recorded by Andrew Hallifax at St Martin's Church, East Woodhay in June 2011 Mixed by Andrew Hallifax 2012, mastered by Rainer Ahrens, April 2013, Berlin and Uwe Steinmetz.
I owe my – absolute - gratitude to the wonderful Fitzwilliam String Quartet for making this CD a reality. Their unchanged enthusiasm for exploring unknown musical territories with colleagues of other genres has been a constant inspiration and motivation for me since we first met in 2002 at Mountainhouse, Caux, CH, for the Swiss premiere of my composition „Stages on the way to freedom“. Our relationship to Caux and the global peace network „Initiatives of Change“ has been also an inspirational source for the main composition of this CD, Absolutely.
Uwe Steinmetz, June 2013
ABSOLUTELY !
musical meditations on purity, unselfishness, honesty and love
“There do exist enquiring minds, which long for the truth of the heart, seek it, strive to solve the problems set by life, try to penetrate to the essence of things and phenomena and to penetrate into themselves. If a man reasons and thinks soundly, no matter which path he follows in solving these problems, he must inevitably arrive back at himself, and begin with the solution of the problem of what he is himself and what his place is in the world around him.” George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff
„Absolute moral standards are the well-spring of inspired states-manship. We talk of peace and unity, but forget that no man who harbours ill-will can solve the hates of nations. We criticize stubbornness in others, but ignore the selfwill which our childern are so familiar with in ourselves. We talk of divine guidance, but forget that it is the pure in heart who see god. It is not those who talk, but those who listen who receive guidance.“
Frank Buchman
PURITY: Purity is an artificial state of higher human organization(“priority setting”) of all values, aims, faiths and beliefs in order to change the present level of being, requiring strict self realization – it is in its essence an artificial and temporary condition since it requires too much distance from other human beings and the world at large.
HONESTY: Purity leads to honesty - Honesty means oneness, being the same person for yourself and others.
Music and all the creative arts share on a high level of quality nearly as a necessary precondition: absolute authenticity of the artist, Meaningful art is always a honest expression of the soul and heart and mind of an artist. For me, Blues, one of the roots of jazz and afro- american music, is one of the most powerful music genres, it is is soaked with the expression of sorrow and hope and the will to reach out to the listener and to convey a story of ones life. This movement is simply a variation on a Blues phrase and follows a 12 bar form with some rhythmic twists and turns. It is the most playful and joyful piece with different improvised sections as HONESTY in itself is a powerful liberating, energizing experience.
UNSELFISHNESS: The state of Oneness, of being absolutely honest, enables to give without any expectation but not losing oneself.
This movement is dedicated to the REGIONAL THEOLOGY ARUL KADAL CENTRE, a place where I lived in India in 1999. This house, like other places by the Jesuits in South India, fostered interreligious and intercultural dialogue for exchange and reconciliation. The delicate atmosphere of the prayer room with statues and shrines from all the world religions and especially the people themself who lived, learned and taught here and on the streets touched me deeply. It taught me, that an honest dialogue and a peaceful life between different cultures and religions is only possible and successful, when everyone involved strives for absolute unselfishness for himself to achieve the best for the other. The music of this movement is built on a Southindian Raga that I used as a melodic and harmonic resource.
LOVE: highest state of PURITY, non artificial, unconditional, but natural (godwanted) way of existence, binding force between people and essential for reconciliation.
The music of this movement is in the centre very calm and suggests a strong beating heart that continues to beat even after the last phrase has been played. The music brings back the motive of the Prelude.
Uwe Steinmetz
credits
released January 6, 2013
THIS PIECE WAS ORIGINALLY RELEASED ON THE DIVINE ART LABEL WITH ADDITIONAL MUSIC FOR SAXOPHONE AND STRINGS.
Saxophonist and composer Uwe Steinmetz (born in northern Germany) started to perform professionally in the age of 16. He has
performed his own music on four continents and received national and international awards for his artistic work. Uwe released 14 CDs with his own music and is fostering networks among like-minded musicians through concert series and publishing books on Spiritual Jazz....more
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