MUMBAI: The sitar virtuoso Pt. Ravi Shankar has written his most ambitious music project yet – a symphony for the London Philharmonic which will largely be inspired by India’s classical music. Shankar was joined by daughter and sitar player Anoushka Shankar in London for this unique concert
Though Shankar is rooted in Indian classical music, interestingly, the music for this symphony was conceived entirely for the Western symphony orchestra, he said
“I had to eliminate the traditional Indian instruments but transfer some of their spirit on to the Western instruments,” Shankar told BBC radio.
Shankar, in past, has collaborateds with western musicians like The Beatles’ George Harrison, composer Philip Glass, jazz saxophonist – flautist Bud Shank and most popularly – for the Duet for Sitar & Violin – which he crafted with ace violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
Reports mention that Shankar’s symphony will be different from conventional symphonies and will not follow a set narrative, but instead weave through a “very abstract” structure. The pieces will be based on different ragas and melodic modes that dominate Indian classical music.
Listeners unfamiliar with the strange structures of Indian classical music are likely to find tonight’s performance to be an auditory education.