MEMORABLE SPIRITUALITY

Pt Ravi Shankar’s Chants Of India is a must-have for music lovers, not only for its musical ingenuity and spiritual content, but also for the rich ancient culture that it propagates...

If Pt. Ravi Shankar composed India’s alternate national anthem, Saare jahaan se achha... in 1945, he recently created a new raag, Swarna and a new taal, jayanti to mark the golden jubilee of India’s independence. So much for the enduring genius of the composer who is rightly hailed as the the godfather of world music by his long-time friend, fan and former Beatle, George Harrison.

Pt. Ravi Shankar is celebrated for his pioneering efforts in bringing Indian music to the West. During the swinging ’60s, when flower children blossomed and the youth awoke to the concept of world harmony, that was the time the legendary sitarist turned into an ambassador of Indian classical music. He gave memorable concerts — Monetory Pop Festival, Concert for Bangladesh and Woodstock Festival, with those he conquered the hearts of music lovers world over.

He revolutionised the world music by initiating the trend of fusion music. He wrote two concertos for sitar and orchestra, violin-sitar compositions for Yehudi Menuhin, music for flute virtuoso Jean Pierre Rampal, Hosan Yamamoto, master of the Shakuhachi and Musumi Miyashita - Koto virtuoso, collaborated with Phillip Glass. George Harrison produced and participated with him — Shankar Family and Friends and Festival of India. He has also scored music for films and ballets in India, Europe and the United States.

Pt Ravi Shankar has received many awards and honours at home and abroad for his contribution to the world of music, including fourteen doctrates, the Padma Vibhushan, Desikottam, the Magsaysay Award from Manila, two Grammys, the Fukuoka Grand Prize from Japan, the Crystal Award from Davos amongst many others.

This gifted musician celebrated the golden anniversary of his concertising with the commissioning of Ghanshyam — A Broken Branch, theatrical show which went on to create history on the British art scene. On his seventy-fifth birthday, EMI honoured him by releasing a four-boxed CD set, Ravi: In Celebration.

The latest addition to his rich repertoire is that of the Chants Of India, based on prayers and ancient chants of India, which are mostly in Sanskrit and derived from the Vedas, the Upnishads and the Bhagvad Gita. There are however, some pieces created by the maestro himself, which include, Mangalum, Swara Mantra, Hari Om and Prabhujee. Partly recorded in Chennai and partly at George Harrison’s studio in London, the album has been produced by the ex-Beatle.

The album opens with a resonating Om followed by invocations to the Trinity of Gods in Gurur Bramha.... Popular shlokas featuring in the album are Gayatri Mantra from the Rig Veda, Karmanye vadhikaraste from the Gita and Asto ma and Sahana vavatu from the Upanishads. With the exception of two tracks that are performed in the regular Vedic chants, the rest are based on fusion of Indian and Western classical music. The album also includes a couple of instrumental interludes. But it is Sarve shaam, the chant invoking universal peace and harmony that summarises the spirutual content of the album. All the shloks and bhajans alongwith their meanings are there on the inlay to fascilitate the listener to comprehend the musical offering in it’s entirity.

Panditji confesses, “This has been the most difficult challenges in my life, as a composer and arranger. I wanted to make a different version of the Indian chants, but still maintain the tremendous spiritual force, and purity and at the same time make them universally appealing.”

In addition to vocalist Harrison, the album accredits tabla player Bikram Ghosh, flautist Ronu Mazumdar, Shankar’s 15-year old daughter Anoushka Shankar as the assistant and conductor while his wife Sukanya Shankar features as the chorus singer.

Harrison advises the listeners, “Turn off your mind. Relax and float downstream.” Panditji appeals,” I would be gratified if the people (especially the younger generation) in the West and in India as well, feel the spark of spirituality by listening to these chants into which I have poured my heart and soul.”

Chants Of India - Ravi Shankar;

Milestone; Rs. 80