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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 17. July 18th, 1973

Shankar: — Concerto for Sitar & Orchestra. Ravi Shankar, sitar; Terence Emery, bongos. London Symphony Orcehstra/ Andre Previn. Reviewed by Felix Manskleid

Shankar:

Concerto for Sitar & Orchestra. Ravi Shankar, sitar; Terence Emery, bongos. London Symphony Orcehstra/ Andre Previn. Reviewed by Felix Manskleid.

Ravi Shankar is 5'3" tall, barely a foot longer than his sitar. "When I play," he once said, "I really lose contact with the outside world. I try to feel things within me. It is a feeling of extreme sadness — the very sad longing to be with something that I have not been able to attain and that is why I try to get near and nearer. I feel a certain peace... it is the height of ecstasy." He was once told by notables such as Casals, Segovia and Heifetz that Indian music was pleasant, but repetitious and monotonous. Somebody even called the sound like a "cat miaowing". This of course made him furious and his many attempts as a composer were to prove that the music of his country is rich varied and deep. The Concerto is based on four raga movements, the raga belonging to the Indian musical tradition, largely an oral one, dating back some 4000 years. It is mainly of an improvisational nature consisting of melodic forms of rising and falling movements composed of an octave or a series of five to six notes. The raga is not considered as entertainment in the proper sense of the word, but celebrates the ritual of daily living. The performer is granted complete freedom of expression so that he is guided by his own conception and as the music is created on the spot, it can generate a feeling of trance and excitement. This Shankar manages to do effectively as a soloist and indulges in what could be described as a "jam session" with his partner, Terence Emery on bongos. This composition allows for orchestral participation and this specific score is written in concerto and even sonata forms which lend a westernised effect to the complete arrangement, even though the emanating sounds are suggestively pseudo-oriental. This brings to our mind the pastiche of musical communication such as the one by which Rimsky—Korsakov tries to paint musically an "Eastern" picture in "Shcherazade". If this is so, I would assume that Shankar has made a concession to European taste in this Concerto.