Music of the Sufi Movement

Nous Vous Invitons à la Prière contains seven beautiful compositions, including Invocation with Willem van der Vliet on muted trumpet, Monotonia with Sheila Arnold on piano, Awake for Morning sung by contralto Ida-Maria Stringer, Chanson Exotique sung by mezzo-soprano Jetty Armaiti Scholten, and a magnificent performance of Nous vous invitons à la Prière by die Haghe Sanghers Royal Male Choir. The production of this CD was conceived as a gift for the composer's eightieth birthday. These compositions draw upon the musical traditions of both east and west but are bound by neither. CD

This is a compilation of music from Symphonic Works and Nous Vous Invitons à la Prière produced by Oreade Music. CD

Other works by Hidayat Inayat-Khan

La Monotonia
Suite Symphonique

Wazifa, 2 CD's
Sacred Compositions to accompany the singing of Sufi Chants
Hidayat Inayat-Khan

These sacred compositions by Sufi composer Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat Inayat-Khan are intended as accompaniment to the singing of the ancient practice of wazifa. The word wazifa comes from the Islamic tradition although similar practices are found in many spiritual systems. Wazifas are often practised sitting cross-legged on the floor with eyes closed and the wazifa phrase is either repeated for a set number of times or for a certain length of time. The pieces in this collection are approximately ten minutes long followed by a three minute period of silence that ends with the sound of a Tibetan bowl being struck. 2 CD set @ CAN$34.95

Sample from Track 3
Sample from Track 4
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Zikar - the Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Music Accompaniment by Hidayat Inayat-Khan

The word Zikar means remembrance, remembrance of the presence of God. The practice of Zikar is the repetition of the sacred sentence La El La Ha El Allah Hu which means Nothing exists save God. God alone is. The Singing Zikar gives a deep mystical experience and carries one like the flying carpet in fairy tales right up to heaven. CD @ CAN$19.95

Sample from Track 2
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Suras of the Confraternity

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Chromatic Zikar

The Chromatic Zikar is at once a development of the voice and a breathing practice. The Zikar phrase La El La Ha El Allah Hu is sung on an ascending and then descending scale while the participant concentrates on the colour of one of the five elements. CD

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In Thy Illuminating Presence
Sufi Songs by Ratan Witteveen

"In honour of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Indian mystic and musician who brought the Sufi Message of spiritual liberty to humanity."

As a six-year old child Ratan Witteveen had the privilege of following Inayat Khan's children's classes in Suresnes, near Paris. His wise and loving attention to each child made these meetings unforgettable. While other children were asked to tell a story, she was asked to sing a song. Singing in the presence of the Murshid has been a lifelong remembrance and inspiration now expressed in the following songs. Thanks to the musician's great skill, this expression has now been brought to life. CD

Sample from Track 2
Sample from Track 5
Sample from Track 14

All lyrics except those in tracks 8 & 15 are from the works of Hazrat Inayat Khan, founder of the International Sufi Movement. Ratan Witteveen says of her compositions, "Once someone very dear to me wished me inspiration in music. Later I studied music and listened to all the great ones. I heard the vocalises by Caplet whose beautiful simplicity appealed to me. Later again, a friend spoke about musical graciousness. These three words, 'inspiration, simplicity and musical graciousness' remained with me, guiding me in my musical interpretation of spiritual lyrics and phrases that inspire me." CD

"…Music loses its freedom by being subject to the laws of technique, but mystics in their sacred music, regardless of the world's opinion, free both their composition and improvisations from the limitations of technicality." Hazrat Inayat Khan

Pyaromir Maheboob Khan, the highly talented younger brother of Hazrat Inayat Khan, first became familiar with western music through his uncle Dr. A.M. Pathan, who for a longer time lived and studied in Europe. Maheboob Khan, devoted to Hazrat Inayat Khan and his mystical and musical work, gave up all his promising prospects in India in order to follow his brother to the West. In his compositions to poems of Hazrat Inayat khan and his rendering into western harmony of Indian ragamelodies one may perceive his deep understanding of and devotion to the essentials of universal Sufism, inspiring him to songs of genuine musical beauty and value. CD

What makes Inayat Khan (1882-1927) a unique artist is that he was a highly gifted musician, composer, poet and writer, and at the same time a Sufi with a mission to bring "East and West together through music." His mystical poetry, like that of his elder contemporary, Rabindranath Tagore, is obviously the creation of someone deeply devoted to music. He communicates his ecstatic appreciation, but also reveals something of his struggle and despair in his writings.

Inayat Khan was the first Indian musician to perform and lecture extensively in Europe and the USA. For him, Indian music was a "divine" and "sacred" art, "which has a tendency to produce calm and peace." In a lecture of 1921he stated, "Music, the word we use in our everyday language, is nothing less than the picture of our Beloved."

Today we are spoiled by the availability of high quality recorded performances of almost unlimited length. In Inayat Khan's day, however, artists and listeners were faced with the limitations of the 78 rpm records. In these recordings Inayat Khan performs a wide range of ragas and vocal genres, which represent excerpts from many different concerts. With these 31 songs of Inayat Khan we have an historical document of a great musician and a mystic. Available in cassette only.