Accord has a new look!
Welcome, readers! The South Asian Symphony Foundation’s newsletter, Accord, has moved to a new platform - Substack. Here you will find updates and news about the activities of the Foundation, along with articles about music, particularly in relation to South Asia. Please subscribe to this Substack in order to receive these updates!
Listener’s Corner
In this issue of Accord, we will take a closer look at Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 4 in G Major. It premiered in 1808 with Beethoven at the piano in a marathon concert that also premiered his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. According to the musicologist Owen Jander, the Fourth Piano Concerto was inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Hades. He draws parallels between the three movements of the concerto to the three main scenes of Orpheus’ tale: The Song of Orpheus, Orpheus in Hades, and Orpheus and the Bacchantes. In particular, it was Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Baroque opera Orfeo of 1762 that served as the inspiration for Beethoven’s composition.
Of particular interest is the second movement of the piano concerto. It seems to have been the starting point of the programmatic nature of this concerto. Marked andante con moto, it is unusual in that the strings are the only active section in the orchestral part – all the other sections are tacet. Not only this, but the strings are in unisono the entire time, indicating that the movement is organised as a kind of dialogue between the orchestra and the piano. This is a parallel to Orpheus’ conversation with the Furies at the Gates of Hell.
The video above is SASO’s performance of the Fourth Piano Concerto, with Julian Clef playing the piano solo, at the October 2019 concert in Bangalore. Go to timestamp 20:36 for the second movement. Notice the contrasting character mood of the passages of the orchestra and the piano. The orchestra is strong, fiery and angry (the Furies), while the piano is beseeching and pleading – Orpheus begging to be let in to find his beloved Eurydice. Julian plays the cadenza with élan, bringing energy and delicacy to the simultaneous long trills and flourishes of scales. Hats off to conductor Alvin Arumugam, Julian and SASO for bringing this beautiful movement to life!
To see just how closely inspired by Gluck’s Orfeo this movement was, watch this performance of Orpheus at the Gates of Hell. Countertenor Bejun Mehta as Orpheus faces off against the Furies. Orpheus arrives in search of his Eurydice and has a bizarre hallucination that he is the one who killed her. He then pleads with the Furies to hear his plight.
____________________________________________________________________________
SASO featured in BIC Podcasts
The webinar of December 7, 2020 “Can a South Asian Identity be Expressed Through Music?” was picked up by the Bangalore International Centre and edited to create two podcast episodes. These are conversations between Ambassador Nirupama Rao and members of the panel – T.M. Krishna, Ali Sethi, Neil Nongkynrih, Dr Ahmad Sarmast and Ravibandhu Vaidyapathy These are included on the BIC Talks website. Here are the links:
South Asian Identity With Music, with T.M. Krishna and Ali Sethi
Music and South Asia, with Neil Nongkynrih, Dr Ahmad Sarmast and Ravibandhu Vidyapathi
____________________________________________________________________________
Remembering Madhav Chari
“Listen first, feel the music, and let it speak to you.”
These were pianist Madhav Chari’s own words about how once could develop a deeper appreciation for jazz music. Born and brought up in Kolkata to Tamilian parents, Chari showed an early brilliance for music. He departed to the United States in 1985 to pursue a PhD in Mathematics. He was captured by the magic of the jazz idiom, and he quit his PhD to take up music full-time as a jazz pianist. He collaborated with musicians like Henry Threadgill, Kenny Barron, Max Roach and Wynton Marsalis. He returned to Chennai for the final 15 years of his life. He passed away in 2015 at the age of 48 due to a cardiac arrest.
We are offered a sneak peek into his genius mind through his writings – five articles that have been preserved by his friend on this website – Jazz Music by Madhav Chari. In the article entitled “The Feeling of Jazz”, Chari succinctly introduced readers to the four fundamental aesthetic elements of jazz music: swing, blues, the romantic to meditative ballad, and Afro-Hispanic rhythms. He encouraged readers to get a feel for these four elements by listening to quality jazz performances, and stressed the importance of feeling them in the body. In another article – “Tam-Brahm and all that Jazz”, he wrote about events and people in his life that influenced his journey in jazz music. For instance, he routinely skipped lessons in the 11th and 12th grade to listen to LP recordings of musicians like Art Blakely and McCoy Tyner, at his teacher’s house on campus.
Gone too soon, he is fondly remembered by his colleagues, friends, family and students. What remains is a legacy of fine music, the magic of which captures not just the jazz enthusiast but also a new listener. In this little snippet, you can watch one of his live performances with Adrian D’Souza on the drums and Karl Peters on the bass. Be sure to also check out his album – Parisian Thoroughfare and the documentary Tam Bram in a Jazz Jam for more of his sublime improvisations.
____________________________________________________________________________
East Meets West in a Tribute to Bach
Renowned Carnatic violinist Dr L. Subramaniam and the German star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter put together a virtual collaboration named “Tribute to Bach”. It premiered on 15th March 2021 on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. From the very first notes, the fusion of the Carnatic and Western styles becomes apparent. The violins are backed by the steady beat of the mridangam, and they play raaga-based melodic turns. The harmonies and tonal changes, on the other hand, reflect the Western classical musical sensibility. The jugalbandi-styled dialogues between the two violinists showcase each of their virtuosic abilities.
____________________________________________________________________________
Anando Mukerjee Pays Tribute to Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli was one of the twentieth centuries great operatic tenors, known for his powerhouse performances, particularly in dramatic roles from the 19th-century opera repertory, such as Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot and Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. On the occasion of his birth centenary on the 8th of April 2021, London-based tenor Anando Mukerjee released a film in tribute to the great tenor.
Corelli was known for his vocal technique of singing with a lowered larynx. Here are Anando’s words about him:
“Though I never met Corelli many of my coaches and teachers were his personal friends including Nicolai Gedda and also my current teacher who was taught by the great Italian teacher Matteo Bandera himself a pupil of Corelli's teacher Arturo Melocchi. I am proud to belong to this Old School of Italian singing on the breath with a descended larynx i.e. sul fiato.”
Anando’s own career has included roles from operas of the same era. His operatic premier was in Puccini’s La bohème, in the role of Rodolfo – one that his idol Corelli sang as well. In this tribute film, Anando has recreated Corelli’s 1956 performance of the aria “E lucevan le stelle” (“And the stars were shining”) from Puccini’s Tosca. The opera was televised as a musical film, directed by Carmine Gallone.
Enjoy this tribute film with Indian tenor, Anando Mukerjee, pouring his heart, soul and technical finesse into this gorgeous aria.
____________________________________________________________________________
Content by Aditi Bharatee.