Shankar Ravi Symphony

Shankar Anoushka Murphy David

Shankar Ravi Symphony
Format
Audio
Published
24 April 2012
ISBN
0854990001604

Shankar Ravi Symphony

Shankar Anoushka Murphy David

Catalogue # LPO0060

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Legendary composer and sitarist Ravi Shankar is one of India’s\nmost highly esteemed musical ambassadors, renowned for his\npioneering work in bringing Indian music to the West. 2010 saw the\npremière of his ambitious fusion work, his first symphony conceived\nfor a Western symphony orchestra, which translates the aural\nsensibilities and sound-worlds of Indian music into a Western\nstructural framework. In this live recording of the work’s\npremière, David Murphy conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra\nwith Ravi Shankar’s daughter Anoushka on sitar.

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Ravi Shankar travelled a great deal in the West as a child\ndancer in his elder brother Uday Shankar’s troupe of Indian\nmusicians and dancers. During a long sojourn in Paris in the early\n1930s he met many of the legends of Western classical music: George\nEnescu, the great Romanian violinist and composer who was then\nteaching the teenage Menuhin in Paris. Toscanini, Heifetz,\nPaderewski, Casals, Kreisler and the great Russian bass Chaliapin\nwere some of the musical legends who made an impact on the young\nRavi Shankar.

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He also experienced the reaction of Westerners to hearing Indian\nmusic for the first time. He noticed that the Western ear is\nattuned to harmony, modulation and counterpoint: musical textures\nwhich of necessity are almost entirely absent in Indian music in\norder to maintain the melodic purity of the raga. He realised\nWestern-trained ears needed an awareness of the rhythmic and\nmelodic structures underpinning Indian music in order to appreciate\nit.

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Thus in later years, Ravi Shankar became the first Indian\nmusician to explain these concepts to his audiences. Through Ravi\nShankar, Indian music began to have an influence on most genres of\nWestern music: Yehudi Menuhin became a duo partner and George\nHarrison was another Western musician for whom the music of India\nresonated deeply. Harrison became a devoted student and lifelong\nfriend, thus the influence of Indian music reached out to a whole\ngeneration.

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Shankar: Symphony
\nRecorded live at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London on\n1 July 2010.

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Anoushka Shankar (sitar)

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London Philharmonic Orchestra, David Murphy

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