News
Jia-Yi takes up the challenge
Virtuoso Jia-Yi He has taken up the challenge of premiering two of Naresh’s works for harmonica. Musician and composer met at Heathrow Airport this month (June 2010) as Jia-Yi was on an international stopover, where they discussed scores and, to the bemusement of passers-by in Terminal 3, Jia-Yi demonstrated some of the niceties of harmonica technique. The pair saw at once that they had the makings of a good working relationship. Jia-Yi is already programming 'Reflection' for harmonica and piano, and is busy learning Naresh’s concerto for harmonica, percussion and strings.
This work was written originally for Larry Adler, but never played by him. Naresh comments: ‘Harmonica technique has moved on apace in recent years. Larry had a gorgeous tone, and brought tremendous lyricism to whatever he played. But the technical starting point for young players now, is what earlier generations could only aspire to. I have complete faith in Jia-Yi to pull this off’. In the meantime, you can see Jia-Yi on You-Tube.
Ah ha, accordion!
Naresh is currently working on a piece for Ksenija Sidorova, exponent of the classical accordion. He says: ‘The instrument has a great deal of potential that you don’t think of immediately, but also some constraints. I want to produce a work that shows it off to good effect and I’m looking forward to resolving the challenges’. In the meantime, you can hear Ksenija on YouTube.
Age-old Indian Epic that Retains its Youth
It took Naresh Sohal a year to write ‘The Divine Song’, a thirty-seven minute long work for narrator and orchestra based on the first two chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. The work, premiered last week in Israel, was conceived of as a seventieth birthday tribute to maestro Zubin Mehta, who has commissioned Sohal several times in the past. By the time the work was performed, the composer was seventy himself, and ready for a bit of a celebration of his own.
Sohal, who likes to work on a large canvas, proposed a work for
orchestra and singer. Mehta stated his preference for a narrator – a
notion that turned out to be an inspired one.
Sohal then submitted the text, wondering if Mehta would really prefer
something closer to his Zoroastrian origins. The text was accepted with
barely a comment. Sohal, who had no idea where the work would be
performed, wondered if the conductor’s busy schedule had prevented him
from giving the matter close attention. In fact, Mehta had quickly
spotted the text’s relevance to the situation in the Middle East and had
already programmed the work for performance on their home turf by the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
The tale is set on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in Northern India
where two branches of the same family, the Kauravas and the Pandavas,
are about to go to war over disputed territory, one branch of the family
having been dispossessed by the other. Repeated attempts at negotiated
settlement have failed. The parallels are obvious. As the opposing
forces muster Arjuna, commander-in-chief of the Pandavas, asks his
charioteer, Lord Krishna, to take him to the centre of the battlefield
so that he can get a good look at the enemy. To his horror, he realises
that they are all his friends and relatives.
So begins an extended discourse between Arjuna and Krishna about the
nature of Self (Atman), Duty (Dharma) and Reincarnation.
‘The fact that this is set against the context of war, means that it has
many contemporary resonances that we can recognise,’ says Sohal. ‘But
even though Lord Krishna urges Arjuna to fight in the interests of
justice, this is not a justification of war. It is a parable about duty.
The primary messages are about the importance of recognising the
enduring nature of the soul, no matter what the circumstances; and of
making the right and honourable choice at every point in one’s daily
life.’
Sohal is known for his love of orchestral colour. Here, there is no
mistaking the amassing and manoeuvring of forces on the battlefield, as
the sounds of warfare rip through all sections of a 100-piece orchestra
that includes two tubas, two harps and a wind machine. At the same time
the musical themes that identify Arjuna and Lord Krishna and that are
carefully developed throughout the work are easily discerned. Lord
Krishna is announced by harps and a twisting melody on the flute and
Arjuna by bold, but increasingly tormented, statements on strings and
brass.
The work was given three performances: Tel Aviv (30th January),
Jerusalem (1st February), and Tel Aviv (3rd February).
Itay Tiran, currently one of Israel’s foremost actors and no stranger to
controversy himself because of his opposition to aspects of Israel’s
military and political stance, took on the entire vocal role,
representing the narrator as well as the two protagonists.
‘He was an inspired choice,’ says Mehta. ‘He’s like a young Laurence
Olivier.’
Tiran’s performance was skilfully nuanced, ranging from the impassioned
pleading of Arjuna to the pacific aphorisms of Lord Krishna. In what
would be a mammoth undertaking for any actor, he compelled the
audience’s attention from beginning to end.
‘This has been a great work for me to perform,’ he says. ‘Usually, you
get stuck with being the narrator, but this is a hugely dramatic work
that gives me far more scope for self-expression. What’s more, I feel
Naresh has served the word well: he doesn’t mutilate it or try to fit it
to his own purposes.’
In fact, while Tiran is extremely skilled at phrasing speech to match
the music, Sohal demonstrates an excellent sense of pace and proportion,
dramatic tension and release. The text which, on this occasion was in an
impressively lyrical Hebrew translation by Dori Parnes was audible
throughout.
Mehta conducted with characteristic focus and impeccable attention to
detail. ‘Naresh has had a great success with this work,’ he says. ‘It
hangs together like a tapestry. It works absolutely as intended. And the
musicians love it.’
As it turned out, the audience loved it too. A cautious first night
audience, with no great appetite for contemporary music, greeted the
work well. Sunday’s audience in Jerusalem made it clear that the work
had given them much to think about. Some were moved by the message,
others wowed by the combination of spoken voice and orchestra and others
still were of the view that whole performance added up to a very special
occasion. But by the time of the third concert in Tel Aviv the combo was
cooking on rocket fuel and delivered a high octane experience. When the
final blast sounded on the conch shell, marking the end of the piece and
the start of the battle, people were at first stunned and then ecstatic.
‘A new work is a bit like a new car,’ says Sohal, ‘You’ve got to take it
round the block a few times to really get to know it.’
Now that Tiran, Mehta and Sohal have hit their stride as a partnership,
let’s hope there’ll be opportunities for them to take this work round
more blocks for other people, worldwide, to appreciate and admire.
JS
