Welcome to UR-SPIRIT

This site is dedicated to great works of classical music and its interpreters, past and present. "Ur-spirit" is a term coined by one of the 20th century's greatest artists, Dinu Lipatti. While performers and theorists became fanatical about Urtext editions, the "original text", Lipatti spoke of the original spirit of composition, and his search for this essential truth is reflected in his extraordinary performances.

After many years of study and practice, or paradoxically, during a first reading, an artist or audience is occasionally visited by the apparition of this spirit. It is these moments of communion with the mysterious essence of art that fuel our work. No matter how fleeting, whether alone or in the open space of a concert hall, we experience the ecstasy of contact with something greater than ourselves and the immense catharsis of having been touched by something meaningful and true.

I hope that in offering my reflections on music, you will be encouraged to seek out your own truth and fulfillment in Art and LIfe, which are after all inextricably linked.

-Jeffrey LaDeur

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