music

Music can transform our perception of time and space. To listen deeply can flow like a river into the unknown. When accompanied by a stream of ambient images, improvisations, dance or theatre, music adds depth to the mysterious field of correspondences. There are many pieces that express a sense of the sacred, joy in life, a search for truth in form and content, authenticity of meaning or simply a raw expression of emotion. Among older voices our selection includes works by a new generation of composers who are no longer with a strictly classical, romantic or popular forms etc or music indeed which relates to a particular landscape or culture. There are also some rare pieces past and present that resonate with silence in such a way that they take one to a place where thought with all its associations is completely absent.

PLAYLIST

Here to begin is a selection of solo, ensemble and orchestral works from traditional, classical and contemporary genres from around the world, together with the insights of those who love to create and make the music. The music can have the passion of self engendered struggle, play of harmony and dissonance and the grace that comes with of a compassionate nature.

Ralph Vaughn Williams – Symphony no 5.

A performance of this symphony took place in an empty concert hall and virtual audience during the Covid pandemic and a world waking up to the reality of global climate change.

First performed in 1943 in war torn London, its inclusion in a prom concert in 2020 was a response to the question :

‘What do we need to hear?

“This piece seemed to be emotionally ‘it’, because it is talking about a world we might have lost

or another world that might be there. ( I understand the composer was an agnostic )

As well as being immensely sad its immensely forward looking and very radical in its quiet way

Everything is going on underneath without exaggerating it.

So hopefully it is a piece for this time.” (Simon Rattle)

One can only marvel at how the symphony has enabled composers to approach the twists and turns and complexities of life as one whole movement.

While Vaughn William’s 5th symphony of 1943 was composed at a time of growing unrest and global conflict, it nonetheless conveys a sense of sanctity and grace while the 6^thsymphony of 1948 reflects the more direct impact of war on both on the composers personal life and his musical thinking. This culminates in the last movement of the symphony which a friend recently suggested as having a strange ‘ambient, desolate post apocalyptic, outcome.’ Suffice it to say, this was not the composers final word on the prospects for humanity. Composed in the time of war the two symphonies provide valuable insights into the composers love of the landscape of England and his experience of loss and suffering.

Ralph Vaughn Williams – Symphony no6. Bernard Haitink

Joe Zawinul – Many Churches

” The entire life is one moment

And you have to exploit that moment

It’s a very swift journey

I believe that time is only a moment

So the time of yesterday, today tomorrow,

That’s all just one moment”

Joe Zawinul. (1932-2007) text extract from ‘Uhrzeit’ (earth time) a documentary of Joe’s life and work ensemble with an array of gifted musicians.

These words came from an abiding sense of the oneness of life which gave him a unique understanding and access to world music past and present an enabled him to fuse it into a contemporary form of great vitality, playfulness. and depth.

In his later years the maestro made some interesting comments about life as a jazz musician. “Jazz is life style, a crazy one. You stay in the cheapest places, you under, you understand; You play on the worst pianos. Traveling in a car every day. Making hardly any money….lots of drinking and smoking, staying up all night, not all bad…but when you don’t live a life like that, you can’t really make that kind of music” Fortunately, his roots went deeper, spread wider than just one genre.

Keith Jarrett. – My Song

Keith Jarrett’s world wide reputation as a classical/jazz/composer/pianist is all the more extraordinary because of his gift for improvisation. After several decades of making a significant contribution to the music of our time, sadly in 1997 he developed chronic fatigue syndrome and more recently suffered two strokes that seriously impaired his ability to play and left him facing an uncertain future as an accomplished musician.

Being a hard taskmaster, he recently remarked that being both the “ventriloquist and the dummy” had not been good for his health. While overwork and a busy schedule is a significant factor, for the artist there is perhaps another reason why the overall effect of working with such intensity can effect ones general wellbeing.

For instance, a high quality of creativity and improvisation requires an uncommon degree of attention. Being in the moment is for many a state of grace no less, that clearly captivates others. It would seem unlikely that this would ever lead to poor health. But the stress that comes from being ‘up there’ and then losing it over and over again clearly has psycho-somatic consequences. While creative expression can clearly open up new levels of awareness it would follow that without a quiet attentive mind in daily life, tension will lead to significant levels of stress.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Contact: savitha@savithasastry.com
“Dance continues to be a path I seek at every turn of my life. To many, reconciling an ancient art form driven solely by spiritual quest seems a contradiction in a world driven by achievements and success. Every time I ascend the stage to perform I am transported to a plane where the performer, the audience, and the dance converge on a mystical realm. On this realm, time stands still and whatever was relevant several thousands of years ago, is as enthralling at the very moment. It becomes the defining experience where the performer and audience not just understand culture but become a part of it. This is the magical addiction that ensures the immortality of an art form such as Bharathanatyam”.

Alan Rowlands, musician (1929 – 2012) shares his views on ‘seeing’ and the impact it has had on his life and work.

I met Alan on one of my visits to Brockwood Park School where he gave piano lessons and shared his love of music. On our first meeting we talked about Delius. In those days there was a grand piano which he frequently played in the main dining room cum lounge. On one occasion, much to my delight, he sat at the piano and from memory played a piece by Delius.

Frederick Delius – Spring Morning

J S Bach – Prelude in C Major Helene Grimaud

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHgd9obN8MM[/embedyt]

Bach – Sarabande Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830 – Zhu Xiao-Mei

Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, Prélude. Yo-Yo Ma

John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain & Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. – Lotus Feet

Gyorgy Ligeti – Lux Aeterna

https://archive.org/details/LuxAeterna-Ligeti

Karl Jenkins – Benedictus

Phillip Glass – Etude No 5

Erik Satie – Ogives

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez62cQPYyI8[/embedyt]

Oblivion – Astor Piazzolla. performed by Nadja Kossinskaja

Mozart – Serenade no’ 10 for winds ‘Gran Partita, 111. Adagio LSO Wind Ensemble

John Luther Adams. – Songbirdsong

The rhythmic breath of the ancient chant and the root and branch from which music sprang are discussed in this conversation. This BBC podcast explores some physiological threads to making music and ancient provenance in world cultures.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usf0qtrBVW8[/embedyt]

Toumani & Sidika Diabate – Lampedusa