Ravi Shankar, André Previn - Shankar: Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra

Warner Classics

£25.50

Format: LP
ICPN: 0190296266959
Release Date: 04 Nov 2022
Genre: Classical

“If I’ve accomplished anything,” said Ravi Shankar, “it’s that I have been able to open the door to our music in the West.” Born in Varanasi in 1920, he achieved worldwide renown as a sitar player and unprecedented influence as an ambassador for Indian classical music, revealing new possibilities to such figures as George Harrison of the Beatles, jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and composer Philip Glass. As a performer, composer, teacher and writer, Ravi Shankar is renowned throughout the world for his pioneering work in bringing Indian music to the West. Shankar has been a cultural influence in the West for more than four decades as India’s most recognized and esteemed musical ambassador.

“If East has to meet West, then few musicians have achieved it with such open joy as Ravi Shankar.” The Guardian

This album features Ravi Shankar’s first Concerto for sitar, commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra in 1970; it was the first album André Previn recorded for EMI Classics (now Warner Classics), in 1971. The work was premiered at London's Royal Festival Hall on 28 January 1971 and sets a sitar recital of four ragas (including one by Ravi Shankar’s guru Allauddin Khan, adapted for the concerto) across four movements and within the grand sweep of a full western orchestra.

“The first Concerto was really a snapshot of a moment in history. It was the first time we were seeing raga music across an orchestral arrangement, creating a composite soundscape.” Anoushka Shankar (Ravi’s daughter)

“Shankar’s concerto is a compelling, almost textbook-ideal adaptation of one musical tradition into another. Its melodies and rhythms come from raga, and the techniques of development also rely on Indian tradition, including sections for improvisation by the soloist. But Shankar uses the Western orchestra with imagination. Sometimes he looks for equivalents: Bongos serve as tabla; two harps play scales, echoing the sitar; the strings fill in the tambura’s drone. Sometimes he creates new effects, as in a stunning lyrical horn solo or the wonderful wind and percussion writing.” Los Angeles Times

TRACKLIST

RAVI SHANKAR 1920-2012
Concerto for sitar and orchestra
SIDE A I. Rāga Khamāj - Chhed - Aochār Alap - Jor - Gat and Tān in Teentāl (16 Beats)
II. Rāga Sindhi Bhairavi - Chhed and Chalan - Gand and Tān in Dadra (6 Beats) - Gat and Tān in Kaharva (8 Beats)
SIDE B III. Rāga Adanā - Chhed - Drut Gat, Tān and Jhālā in Ektal (12 Beats)
IV. Rāga Mānj Khamāj - Chhed and Chalan – Gat and Tān in Chānchar (14 Beats) - Drut Gat, Tān and Jhālā in Teentāl (16 Beats)

Ravi Shankar sitar
Terence Emery bongos
London Symphony Orchestra
André Previn conductor

Recorded: 29-30.V.1971, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London (STEREO)
Producer: Christopher Bishop · Balance engineer: Christopher Parker
First release as EMI ASD 2752
Original cover artwork
Total timing: 40 minutes
0190296266959 · Made in Germany · A Warner Classics release, (P) 1971 & Remastered (P) 2012 Parlophone Records Limited. © 2022 Parlophone Records Limited