Anoushka Shankar and Ensemble
Sitarist, with tabla performers Bikram Gosh and
Tanmoy Bose
Wednesday, October 10th, 8:00pm, Bates College Chapel
Join us for an evening of traditional
Indian classical music.
Admission is $15 (general) and $10 (seniors). FREE to Bates
students.
Call 786-6135 for reservations and further details.
"If Ravi Shankar is the guardian of Indian classical music, Anoushka is certainly the successor to his throne, by virtue of ability alone."
Dubai, February 2000
At the young age of 20, Anoushka Shankar has shown herself to be a unique
artist with tremendous talent and understanding of the great musical
tradition of India. Anoushka is the only artist in the world to be
trained completely by her father and legendary sitar virtuoso and
composer, Ravi Shankar. She has been playing and studying with him since
she was nine, working first on a "baby" sitar that was built especially
for her. At age 13 she made her performing debut in New Delhi, India.
That same year, Anoushka entered the recording studio for the first time
to play on her father's recording, In Celebration. Two years later she
helped as conductor with her father and George Harrison, Mr. Shankar's
friend and frequent colleague, on the 1997 Angel release, Chants of India.
Shortly thereafter she signed an exclusive contract with Angel/EMI
Classics. In 1998 her first solo recording, Anoushka, was released to
tremendous critical acclaim. Her second album, Anourag, was released in
the Summer of 2000.
As her solo career continues to blossom, she is poised to carry forward
her father's legacy as one of the most creative and influential figures in
the music world. In recognition of her artistry and musicianship, on July
17, 1998 the British Parliament presented Anoushka with a House of Commons
Shield. She is the youngest as well as the sole female recipient of this
high honor.
In addition to her own concerts, Anoushka continues touring the world with
her father's ensemble with performances in India, Europe, Asia and the
United States. Anoushka is also championing her father's Concerto No. 1
for Sitar and Orchestra, which she first performed with Zubin Mehta
conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra in March 1997. In July 1999
Anoushka premiered a new work for sitar and cello, written by her father,
Ravi Shankar, with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich at the Evian Festival.
Most recently, Anoushka became the first woman ever to perform at The
Ramakrishna Centre in Calcutta in February 2000.
In addition to her regular performances with her father, Anoushka most
recently toured the UK with her own ensemble performing, which included
her solo London debut. In the 2001-2002 season, Anoushka continues to
perform solo concerts with extensive tours in the United States, Japan,
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Born in London, Anoushka Shankar has grown up in California, where she
graduated with honors from public school in Encinitas, and in India, where
she spends part of every winter performing with her father and visiting
her family. She is also a gifted classical pianist with a wide range of
interests. But her devotion to the sitar and to her father's guidance is
unmistakable, with a discipline that has led her into an already
extraordinary performing career.
July 2001
By Ravi Shankar
The sitar is the most popular stringed instrument of India. Though gone through many changes and improvements, it has existed there in its present form for approximately seven hundred years. It is fashioned from a seasoned gourd and teakwood. It has a track of 20 metal frets, with six or seven main-playing strings placed below. The sympathetic strings are strummed upon occasion, with the little finger of the right hand inserted in the main strings, which are tuned to the raga being played, and the main strings are plucked by a plectrum worn on the index finger of the right hand.
The tabla is the two-piece drum of India. The right-hand drum (the tabla) is tuned to the tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant, and is tuned with a hammer. The left-hand drum (or bayan) acts as the bass drum and is capable of many tones that can be varied by degrees of pressure from the base of the left palm.
The pakhawaj is a one-piece ancient drum of India. The modern-day tabla evolved from this drum. In India, pakhawaj has a dignity, and with its very deep sound, it is compared to "Elephants Walk, or distant thunder!" It was more popular along with the old form of dhrupad and dhaniar singing and accompanying the ancient instruments, veena and rahab. Only a few people play his drum today.
The tamboura is a four or five-stringed instrument that gives an essential drone background to all Indian music. It is tuned to the raga being performed and emphasizes the tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant, according to the raga.
The system of Indian classical music known as Raga Sangeet can be traced back nearly two thousand years to its origin in the Vedic hymns. Unlike Western classical music, as much as ninety percent of Indian music may be improvised, depending on the artistic facility and creative imagination of the performer. Our musical tradition is an oral one, taught directly to the student by his guru, rather than by the system of written notation used in the West.
The very heart of Indian music is the raga; the melodic form upon which the artist improvises his performance. A raga is a scientific, precise, subtle, and aesthetic melodic form with its own specific ascending and descending movement consisting of either a full seven-note octave, or a series of six or five notes.
The are 72 basic melas, or parent scales on which all ragas are based. The subtle difference in the order of notes, an omission of a dissonant note, an emphasis on a particular note, and the use of microtones and other effects all distinguish one raga from the other.
Every raga is also characterized by its own particular rasa, or principal mood. The acknowledged order of these nine sentiments or emotions is as follows: romantic and erotic, humorous, pathetic, angry, heroic, fearful, disgustful, amazed, and peaceful. Each raga, in addition to being associated with a particular mood, is also closely connected to a particular time of day or season of the year. Thus, via the rich melodies and rhythm of Indian music, every human emotion, every subtle feeling in man and nature, can be musically expressed and experienced.
In terms of aesthetics, a raga is a projection of the artist's inner spirit; a manifestation of his most profound feelings and sensibilities. The musician must breathe life into each raga as he unfolds and expands it until each note shimmers and pulsates with life and the raga is revealed, vibrant and incandescent with beauty.
Next to be considered are the talas, or rhythmic cycles of a raga. There is a unique intricacy and rhythmic sophistication in Indian music. There are talas ranging from a three-beat cycle to 108 beats within a cycle! The divisions in a tala and the stress on the first beat, called sum, are the most important features.
Different talas with the same number of beats may have stress on different beats (for example: a bar of 10 beats can be divided as 2-3-2-3, 3-3-4, 3-4-3, or 4-4-2). Within the framework of the fixed beats, the drummer can improvise to the same extent as the main artist. The most exciting moment for a seasoned listener is when both musicians, after their individual improvisations, come back together on the sum. The most popular talas are:
Although overtones are very much a part of Indian music, there are no deliberate modulations or harmonics, as in Western music. The existing harmony is in its simplest form and is more inherent than preconceived. Ideally, the new listener in the West is invited to forget counterpoint, harmony, and mixed color tones when he hears our music and instead relax into the rich melody and rhythm of our ancient art. With an open mind, he will be introduced to a whole world of sound, of tones and microtones and improvisation never heard before.
The improvisational nature of Indian music requires the artist to take into consideration the setting, time allowed for his concert, his mood, and the feeling he discerns in the audience before he begins to play. Since our music is spiritual in origin, the traditional recital begins with the alap sections, the stately and serene exploration of the chosen raga. After this slow, introspective, heartfelt, sometimes sad beginning, the musician moves on to the jor. In this part, rhythm enters and is developed, and innumerable variations on the raga's basic theme are elaborated. There is no drum accompaniment in either the alap, the jor, or the third section, jhala, where the side strings are played in rapid speed.
The alap, jar, and jhala evolve into the gal, the fixed composition of the raga. Here, the drums enter with the wonderful rhythmic structure of the gal and its time cycle, the tala. A gal can be in any tala, and in slow, medium or fast tempo. The musician improvises on a variety of jaans (musical phrases at four different speeds) and lodas (a combination of plucked passages). The gal (a fixed composition anywhere between 4 and 16 bars long) is the vehicle to which the artist must return after his improvisation.
While the Indian musician has complete freedom to improvise as he wishes, he may do so only as long as he does not depart from a format of the raga and tala. The step-by-step acceleration of the rhythm in the gal finally culminates in the return of the jhala: the final movement and climax of the raga. Here, the music becomes more and more playful and exciting. Sawal jahab, the dazzling interplay and rapid exchange between the sitar and tabla, has the power to enthrall and amaze the most uninitiated listener as it brings the raga to its conclusion.
Often, at the conclusion of a recital, the musician may choose to play a thurmi or dhum. This semi-classical style is much freer and is completely romantic, sensual, and erotic. Today, Indian classical music is a permanent part of Western culture. Many composers and musicians have been influenced by our music. The openness, willingness to learn, and sincere enthusiasm of Western audiences are a continuing source of inspiration and delight.