Hot Picks

Asht Prahar
for orchestra

The title of this work is derived from the Sanskrit ‘asht’ meaning ‘eight’ and ‘prahar’ which is a variable unit of time once used in India. There are four prahars to a day, and four to a night. The work is cyclical in form. Each section or prahar denotes a part of the daily cycle, starting at dawn and continuing through to the following dawn. Asht Prahar was the composer’s first major orchestral work.

Chiaroscuro 2
for string quartet

This work aims to display a multitude of shades within the colour spectrum of the string quartet. There are three sections; the first is moderately slow, the second moderately fast and the third very slow. The last section is preceded by a short cadenza for the ‘cello and the first violin.

 

The piece begins with the two violins and viola playing a repeated pattern of chords15 quarters, i.e. between a fifth and a minor sixth, apart.  This interval, along with the opening statement on the ‘cello, is the basis of the whole piece.

 

Concertino
for violoncello and strings

This piece is a gift from the composer to the children of the Father Mathieson Music School, Calcutta. The children of this school come from the streets, and the majority are orphans. The piece was written at the request of the school’s founding trustee/director, ‘cellist Anup Kumar Biswas. There are two movements, the first is slow and meditative, while the second is vigorous and energetic. In both movements, the ‘cello has the main theme with cadenzas for each movement. The work is technically demanding for the soloist while making allowances for the youth of the orchestral players.

Dhayan I
for ‘cello and small orchestra

Download

 

Of this work, the composer says:

‘Dhyan’ means ‘meditation’. I had always wanted to write for ‘cello, as it was one of my favourite instruments, and when I was offered this opportunity by the BBC, I chose a small orchestra to balance the ‘cello’s warm and delicate tone. As the intervals on the ‘cello are widely spaced, this allows me to use quartertones with confidence as far as intonation is concerned. The work was given its first performance by the sensational ‘cellist, Thomas Igloi. I lament Thomas’s untimely death to this day.’

 

Structurally, the work is in three sections: moderately fast, slow and fast, plus a recapitulation of some of the opening material at the end.

 

The opening material, which is played by the ‘cello, is constructed on four conjunct sets, based on intervals of 5+5+4+4+3+3+2+2+1+1 quartertones. These sets, or segments of sets, form the basis of the whole piece.

 

In the second section the opening material, announced by the ‘cello, is distributed amongst the instruments of the orchestra without any regard to its original rhythmic pattern, creating an harmonic aspect to the material, as well as maintaining the original pitch order. This part is repeated within the section and leads directly to the cadenza.

 

The cadenza is written only in respect of pitch, the sets of which are derived from the entire work, and not just the music heard up to this point.

 

The third section is based on double the intervals of the opening set, that is: 10+10+8+8 etc., and its retrograde. This section is brought to an end by a climax which is a palindrome of a climax already heard.

 

The piece ends by recalling some of the opening material in a new shape on the ‘cello as well as the orchestra.

 

Foray
for cello and piano

Download

 

Foray is in two movements. The first starts slowly with white-note clusters on the piano, which punctuate an extended melody played by the cello. The development of this material takes place mostly by extension. The music becomes faster and faster, culminating in a rapid gliding figure on the cello. This section comes to an end with a reiteration of part of the opening subject.

 

The second movement is fast and opens with the piano playing the first subject. The cello takes over the subject from the piano. There is some development of the material, then the piano plays the second subject, which is sober in character. The cello takes over this material from the piano and brings it to a conclusion. The opening is played in reverse order and the piece ends with cello and piano playing the subject together.

 

From Gitanjali
for bass-baritone and orchestra

Download

 

This is a setting of an extract from what is probably Tagore’s best known work in which he contemplates humankind’s relationship with the Divine.  ‘Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure,’ he writes. Naresh states: “The poet's recognition of this ‘endlessness’ in himself is the aspect of these poems that fascinates me most. His assurance in acknowledging this condition causes me a sensation of joy, of awe.

 

This is not the poetry of drama, narrative or description. Nor is it, for the most part, like other poetry that touches on the spiritual nature of human beings, wracked with anguish or filled with yearning. This is a celebration, a statement of pure joy. This quality makes it the most difficult kind of poetry to set to music. My endeavor can at best be the sum total of my own recognition of this ‘endlessness’ in me.

In order to portray pure joy in terms of music, harmonically I have used fifths and
their fifths and so on - that is, fifths, fourths, minor sevenths, major ninths, etc. The piece opens melodically and harmonically with a pentatonic scale that is used in India to represent the morning. The songs them selves are self-explanatory. The work ends with a postlude that uses material from the third song juxtaposed with material from the first.’

 

Gautama Buddha
Ballet

Siddartha Gautamawas born in approximately 563 BC, heir to a small kingdom in India. At the time of his birth, a holy man prophesied that Gautama would relinquish all position and wealth to become a wanderer in search of truth. His father sheltered him in the palaces, keeping him ignorant of the harsher realities of life in the hope that comfort and pleasure would distract him from such a course. Siddhartha grew into a remarkably handsome and intelligent youth with an inquiring mind.

 

‘Buddha’ means ‘perfected one’. This ballet is a suite of dances illustrating episodes from Siddhartha’s life. It starts as he chooses a bride. Sumptuous wedding celebrations follow. Then, venturing outside the palace, Siddartha is exposed to the four signs of humankind’s mortality – age, sickness, death and the serenity of the saddhu. We then follow his attempts to achieve, through various kinds of asceticism and practice,  a state of peace that transcends the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Last comes his final meditation where he ultimately achieves enlightenment.

Hexad
for six instruments

Download

 

The piece is in six movements, independent of each other.

The first movement revolves around the use of unison and minor deviations from it. For a short part of this movement, the strings use material based on a three quartertone scale.

 

5+4+3+2 quartertone intervallic scales have been used in the main for the construction of the fourth movement.

 

The last movement is notated only in respect of pitch. The time values have been left entirely to the players, except for general instructions like allegro, moderato etc.. The movement is bound together by percussion and horn crescendi.

Hexahedron
for piano and wind  quintet

The piece is like a concerto for piano and five wind instruments.

 

The opening material on flute and piano forms the basis of the whole piece. It is a straightforward development piece with a recapitulation of the opening at the end.

Lila
for orchestra with soprano

Download

 

The composer says about this piece:

 

‘During my holidays in the summer of 1973, when I was in a town called Poiana Brasov in the Carpathian Alps, I had a moment of silence after doing meditation in which a whole piece went through my mind. It was partly in music, partly in visuals and partly in the form of a philosophical idea. Afterwards, it took me a while to sort out what it meant. This piece was going to be about the process of attaining perfection. Its title, Lila, is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘the play of Nature’. According to Indian philosophy, this is a cyclical process, with energy moving alternately between potential and actual realisation.

 

The structure of the piece is provided by yoga philosophy which states that, in human beings, creative energy rises from the base of the spine to the top of the head through seven 'chakras' or nodes. The flow of energy through each chakra represents a stage of development, as baser concerns are gradually cast off and the Self becomes submerged within the greater cosmic force. Each chakra, consequently, is associated with a particular colour, sound and elemental force.

 

The piece has seven sections, representing the seven stages of development, with the
following associations:-

1. Earth
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Air
5. Ether
6. Consciousness
7. Yoga (i.e. union)

Throughout the piece, at the start of each section, the double basses provide a pulse like a heartbeat, representing the process of meditation. And from here the first and ensuing stages of exploration, with their particular elemental characteristics, unfold.

The material has a two-fold thematic structure, one theme becoming pre-eminent, the other declining in importance, the shift in emphasis occurring in the fourth section. A motif on the alto-saxophone, representing base forces, dominates the earlier part of the work. However, even in the first section, in the midst of the orchestral sound, a phrase based on the harmonic series and played on the piccolos can be heard. This represents the emergence of Self-consciousness. As Self-consciousness deepens, and the preoccupation with all that is base begins to fall away, the phrase is amplified and extended by the orchestra, ultimately to be taken up by the soprano, who represents the fully realised Self. The piece culminates with a uniting of orchestral and vocal forces as the last chakra opens, and the Self gives way to Cosmic-consciousness, leaving nothing but pure energy, which is a formless void...’

 

Madness Lit by Lightning
chamber opera, libretto Trevor Preston

The story is narrated by McGinty who is also one of the characters in it. It concerns Lilith, the daughter of the Devil’s daughter. (In this case, the Devil is female!) Lilith is sent to Earth to learn about the ways of men. With her supernatural powers, she restores the sight of the Blind Man, promises even more wealth to the Rich Man and seduces a Young Man and makes him hers. She really begins to enjoy herself. The Devil intends her to return but, with McGinty’s help, Lilith traps her grandmother in a magic bottle. She creates Hell on Earth with her brood, come up from Hell.

 

Enter Barker, a man of metaphysics who, having seen the future, starts to send them all back to Hell. He lets loose the Devil from the magic bottle after she promises to take all the demons back to Hell, except for Lilith who, in her turn, will remain trapped in a bottle and stay by his side for a year. With the connivance of McGinty, Lilith is trapped, and forced to see the ugliness of the world

.

The composer says: ‘For me, the story is very powerful and contemporary as it illustrates the human obsession with greed.

 

The libretto is written in blank verse. There is a fast pace to the words. I have tried to keep this pace up while providing suitable dramatic settings to the words. The opening four notes on the double bass act as the anchor to the whole piece.’

 

Maya
Chamber opera for soprano, tenor, bass-baritone and small orchestra

Maya is based on an Indian mythological story – a parable that illustrates the illusory nature of ‘phenomenality’. The tale goes like this:

 

Narad, a sage, who can travel the cosmos, arrives in heaven at the abode of Lord Vishnu – the preserver. Lord Vishnu enquires of him about the world of humans. Narad tells his Lord that the world of humans is far too involved with greed, corruption, fornication, warring etc. to think of him at all. He, on the other hand, is always thinking of his Lord and is his greatest devotee.

Lord Vishnu points to the river Ganges and asks Narad to fetch a glass of water as he is feeling thirsty. Narad immediately rushes off to the banks of the river. As he is filling the glass he looks up and sees an extremely beautiful woman having a bath in the river. He is smitten with lust and love for her. He approaches her and asks her name. She tells him her name is Maneka. He asks her if she will marry him. She agrees.

 

Time passes and the couple have four children. They are blissfully happy. Narad collects timber from the jungle and sells it in the city to earn a livelihood. One day after gathering timber as he sets off in the direction of his house he sees smoke. He is alarmed and starts running. As he approaches the house, he discovers that it is ablaze and all his loved ones have been consumed by the fire. He is distraught and inconsolable.

 

He arrives in heaven and complains bitterly to his Lord about his misfortune. He cannot understand why his Lord has made him, his greatest devotee, suffer so profoundly. Lord Vishnu  replies, ‘What Maneka? What family? I only sent you for a glass of water.’

 

The opera is in five scenes. In the last scene all three characters appear to make the meaning of Maya clear. The opera ends with the words ‘ All, All, All is Maya!’

 

Monody
for solo ‘cello

Monody follows the shape of a short lyrical arch. Within that contour, the composer has created an intensity of expression and memorable wealth of detail. In a series of wavelike ascents, the development of the opening intervals unfolds smoothly. Still, these intervals are used more as building blocks than as an end in themselves. Their use is constantly changing, like a kaleidoscope, until at the final climax they seem to tumble down, releasing their colours and tensions in an ending which is as strangely satisfying as it is unexpected.

Poems of Tagore 1
for soprano and piano

Text:

I long to speak the deepest words I have to say to you;
But I dare not, for fear you should laugh.
That is why I laugh at myself and shatter my secret in jest.
I make light of my pain, afraid that you should do so.
I long to tell you the truest words I have to say to you;
But I dare not, being afraid that you would not believe them.
That is why I disguise them in untruth, saying the contrary of what I mean.
I make my pain appear absurd, afraid that you should do so.

I long to use the most precious words I have for you;
But dare not, fearing I should not be paid with like value.
That is why I give you hard names and boast of my callous strength.
I hurt you, for fear you should never know any pain.
I long to visit silent by you; but I dare not lest my heart come out at my lips.
That is why I prattle and chatter lightly and hide my heart behind words.
I rudely handle my pain, for fear you should do so.

I long to go away from your side; but I dare not,
For fear my cowardice should become known to you.
That is why I hold my head high and carelessly come into your presence.
Constant thrusts from your eyes keep my pain fresh for ever.

 

Satyagraha
for orchestra

Satyagraha is a Sanskrit word meaning ' insistence on truth'. The work is dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and his followers, who used the noble path of Ahimsa (non-violence) to achieve independence for India. Historically this was a unique event, where the ruler handed over power to the ruled without the ruled having to resort to violence. Not only that, but the two nations remained friends and part of the same Commonwealth.

 

The piece is in two sections. The first section symbolises this struggle. Two famous tunes. RamDhun (a tune for Lord Ram), which Mahatma Gandhi used to sing at his prayer meetings, and Rule Britannia have been used.

 

The piece opens with Ram Dhun on a flute. It is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Rule Britannia on the brass in a different key from Ram Dhun. The tunes are varied and developed sometimes alone and at other times juxtaposed. Gradually they merge in their developed forms in favour of the Ram Dhun variation.

 

The second section is like a new dawn. It represents the joy and hope of independent India for the future.

 

Shades II
for solo flute

After playing in Naresh’s piece Kavita II, flautist Susan Milan asked him to write her a virtuoso piece for the instrument. She handed him a book on chords that can be played on the flute and asked him to incorporate some of them into the piece.

The opening material, which is in free time, forms the basis of the whole piece. The work includes passages of extreme difficulty, and culminates on the topmost E of the flute.

 

Shades IV
for solo viola

Download

 

Shades IV makes use of harmonies generated by the open strings of the viola, which are heard pizzicato at the opening of the work accompanying a bowed melodic line. This passage recurs later, after a climax which sends the player to the highest reaches of the instrument, and the work ends with all four open strings plucked simultaneously.

 

Songs of Desire
For soprano and piano. Words by Rabindranath Tagore

I

My desires are many and my cry is pitiful,

but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals;
and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life through and through.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple,
great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked;
this sky and the light, this body, this life and this mind,
saving me from perils of overmuch desire.
There are times when I languidly linger
and times when I awaken and hurry to search of my goal;
but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance
by refusing me ever and anon,
saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire.

II

I am here to sing thee songs.
In this hall of thine I have a corner seat.
In thy world I have no work to do
My useless life can only break out in tunes without a purpose.
When the hour strikes for thy silent worship
at the dark temple of midnight,
command me my master to stand before thee to sing.
When in the morning air,
the golden harp is tuned,
honour me, commanding my presence.

III

I have had my invitation to this world’s festival

and thus my life has been blessed.
My eyes have seen and my ears have heard.
It was my part to play upon my instrument
and I have done all I could.
Now I ask
has the time come at last when I may
go in and see thy face
and offer thee my silent salutation.

 

Songs of the Five Rivers
for soprano, two tabla and orchestra or piano

Download

 

Of the three poems used in this work, numbers 1 and 3 are by the mystic poet Bullay Shah, and number 2 is by the romantic poet, Waras Shah.

 

The Bullay Shah poems are what is known as kafis. Kafis are Sufi in nature and reveal the inner state of the seeker after truth, absorbed in a state of meditation and devotion. They are written to be sung with rhythmical instruments such as tabla or dholak. Musicians in the great tradition of Qwaali, the musical rendering of spiritual poetry, often perform kafis to this kind of accompaniment.

 

The second song uses lines from Heer by Waras Shah, The love story of Heer and Ranjha has been set to poetry many times, but the rendition by Waras Shah is the most celebrated. The lines used here are known to almost every Punjabi. I have based the opening of this song on the traditional setting.

 

Surya
Work for voices
- two versions available – check works list

This work is in praise of Surya, the Sun.  There are two verses: one is a shlok, or couplet by the poet Kalidas, from his work Abhijnan Shakuntlam; the other is the Ved mantra from the Rigveda.

 

The work evokes a flowing river in which people are standing singing these verses whilst the Sun is rising.

 

The language used is Sanskrit, with Roman script used phonetically to represent the original Dev Nagri, as follows:-

 

Bhanuh sakrith yukt turanga aive, ratri-dinvam gandh vaha prayati.
S'esha, sthaivahit bhoomibhareh yashdhansh vri'tairapi dhar'm rasheh

Kalidas

 

Thivo rukm uruchaksha uthaiti thooray arya stara'ani bhrarjmaneh.
Noonum jnah Suryai'an prasoota ayannryani kri'nn vannyaansi
                                            Rigveda 7/63/4

Tandava Nritya 
for orchestra

Download

 

The title comes from Hindu philosophy, and refers to constant re-making of the universe symbolised by the god  Shiva's dance of destruction and re-creation. Powerful rhythms sweep round the orchestra and the composer uses the large orchestral forces to create a wide range of colours.

 

The Wanderer
for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra

Download

 

The Wanderer is based on the Anglo-Saxon poem of the same name, a ‘classic expression of grief, of despair, of grim, stoic fortitude by a man surveying the desolation around and within him’ (Musical Times).  It questions man’s place and purpose in the universe.

 

Naresh says: ‘I discovered the poem in a modern English translation by Michael Alexander. I was immediately struck by the poet’s quest for answers to exactly the same questions as I had myself, though the setting was entirely different, being exceptionally cold and bleak. Mind you, we had an Easter break in Caithness one year, and I was able to draw on this as some days it was virtually impossible to stand upright while hail lashed across the beach.

 

The message of the poet is experiential. He has come to terms with all the turmoil that has befallen him, and which may befall mankind. When he says, ‘A wise man holds out…ere he knows all,’ I am reminded of a verse from one of the Upanishads – ‘To know is to know all, not to know all is not to know it’. Such is the nature of the ultimate truth.

 

The poem has a built-in sense of heightening and releasing of tension. This naturally lends itself to the construction of a large-scale musical work, and I have attempted to go along with the poet by building atmospheres as the poem requires them. I gave the narrative to the soloist and the questions and answers to the chorus.

 

The poet reiterates material that relates to the atmosphere and context, and I have done the same. This gives the piece the same form as the poem. I jettisoned what are thought to be later Christian additions as these appeared to me to be at odds with the poet’s own perceptions, and certainly with my own insights. And I added a comment of my own, which brings the work to its conclusion.’

 

‘A work of enormous scope and colour. Within its 50 minutes span, he covers a range of great expressive and emotional power’ – Novello and Co.

 

Three Songs from Gitanjali
for soprano, string quartet and tabla
(alternative version available – check works list)

Naresh chose to set these poems in the original Bengali, though he is not fluent in the language. He says:

 

‘I have made many settings of Tagore’s poems, but always in their English translation. This time I wanted to have a go at the original language. Because of Bengali has Sanskrit roots, someone like me can hazard a guess at its meaning. But I am grateful to the Tagore Centre UK, especially Mr. Amalendu Biswas, their chair, for their help making a transliteration of the text from Bengali to Hindi, so that I could grasp the subtleties.

 

What was really interesting about working in Bengali was that it has rhythm which the English translation lacks. As the instrumentation that I was given for this commission, which came from the Spitalfields Festival, includes a tabla, it obliged me to set the poems in some tonality (the tabla being a fixed-note tuned instrument) with some rhythm.

 

The first and the third song use the string quartet and tabla but the second song is without tabla. The second song is much more sombre than the other two. Tagore's poetry is mostly lyrical and expresses yearning for the Divine. These three poems represent different stages of hopefulness about achieving unity with the Divine Being, the last being totally positive.’

 

At the work’s premiere in 2004, the first song had to be encored at the request of the audience.

 

Tsunami
for piano

Naresh says:

 

‘I have always been fascinated by colour and its representation as timbre in music. This piece is no exception.

 

Turquoise is represented by the right hand of the piano, whilst the left hand represents darkness. The piece represents a transition from a mild gentle sea to a furious one. The triplet rhythm in the left hand signals the change. This is taken up by the right hand, slowly but surely, till there is no difference between the two hands. They are equally ominous.

 

It is the undercurrent, i.e. the left hand, which gives the piece its title.’

 

Violin concerto
for violin and orchestra

Naresh says:

 

‘In this piece, I had the urge to write music which represented light. This is a tricky business as colour and drama tend to be associated with darkness

.

My strategy was to use harmonies based on the cycle of open fifths. Harmonies like this have a natural tendency to generate pentatonic scales.

 

The piece starts with these kinds of harmonies on strings and harp, with the solo violin playing its first motif in a pentatonic scale.  In due course the harmonic and melodic lines grow richer and start to deviate from the harmonic basis of open fifths.

 

There are three movements.  The first is slow; the second moderate and the last is the fastest of all.  The first and second movements are monothematic. The first is lyrical and meditative in character and has a short written cadenza. The second is mysterious and plangent and uses double-stopping on the violin in long passages. The third movement is in the form of a rondo, the violin enunciating the first theme and the oboe the second. It is in a fast complicated rhythm, increasing in tempo with the cadenza. The piece ends after a recapitulation.

 

The intention was not to create undue difficulty for the soloist - more to offer them the opportunity to present a virtuoso performance.