Prom 39 Nishat Khan a wider perspective

What to make of  the "Anglo-Indian Prom  39?  Nishat Khan, Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. I avoided writing first impressions. Like most non-Indians, and many Indians, I suspect, I'm in no position to pronounce on Nishat Khan's Sitar Concerto (The Gate of the Moon). He comes over as a man of integrity who genuinely wants to create a fusion of the instrument he knows and loves so well with Western classical form. So no cheap shots from me. I didn't "get it", even though I've spent my life on cross-cultural issues. To me it seemed very much the sort of thing a modern, Westernized composer might write in response to living in, say, Los Angeles, which is where Nishat Khan now lives. Fair enough! Then it seems perfectly reasonable, especially when we remember what liviung in LA and New York did to many other composers from Kurt Weill to Thomas Adès. Fusion is a lot more difficult than we think.

Nishat Khan is the genuine article, a seriously important Indian musician. Gustav Holst was fascinated by the Idea of India as an exotic dream. Raj imperialism trivialized Indian culture. On the other hand, Tagore  made Westerners aware of the higher levels of Indian culture. Holst wasn't alone in his fascination with things Eastern. Think Zemlinsky 's Lyric Symphony (read more here). Zemlinsky's piece works so well because he doesn't even pretend to write orientalism but writes what it makes  him feel. Holst's Indra (1903) sounds so completely of its period that tt might have disappeared entirely but for the composer's reputation. Perhaps we were only hearing it because the BBC is desperate to jazz up the occasion. The presenters get hysterical because Radio 3 is doing a joint event with The Asian Network. Better that they should give us real music instead. In comparison, Nishat Khan's Sitar Concerto sound better already.

Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony no 2 (London) sat oddly with Holst and Nishat Khan. Perhaps the logic was that, if you're going to do Tourism in Music, you might as well throw in a historic Trip Around London. As such, it was probably quite entertaining, though the performance was pretty bland. David Atherton (who is familiar with Chinese music – he was music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra for many years) is an excellent conductor but the BBC National Orchestra of Wales isn't the most adventurous of the BBC stable of orchestras. For me, RVW 2 works not as travelogue but as mood piece, evoking abstract emotions like loss and regret.

HILARIOUS video clip !!!!

This is hilarious !!!!! But there is a serious value to it because it shows how different types of Indian music "work". The rhythms are fascinating. Count the talas, get into the spirit !

Kings Place opens with a bang !

Kings Place opened with a bang – literally – as the builders were still about hammering, while the first concert took place. Melinda Maxwell was playing Simon Holt's world premiere, Disparates, a work he'd written for her. It's beautiful, complex and contemplative. Definitely not oboe solo with "improvised percussion". Pity, but she deserves credit for perserverance.

Hall One at Kings Place is without doubt the most elegant concert hall in London, small but classically proportioned and blessed with an extremely clear acoustic. Ideal for chamber music and song. Hall Two is more spartan, but the concerts here turned out to be the biggest surprise of the whole opening day. Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan Centre is the biggest Indian culture centre outside India and is based in humble West Kensington ! Founded by Mahatma Gandhi himself, it's the Indian equivalent of RCM, RAM, Guildhall, Kings and the Juilliard put together –producing seriously dedicated performers. Indian culture stresses the unity of the arts – music, speech, dance, visual. So we saw dancers, heard musicians and took part in a workshop about tala, Indian rhythms, and how they can be infinitely varied and extended. There I was, beating time merrily, but it's OK, Indian music is interactive, audiences are part of the process. Since so much new western music uses ideas from Indian form, it was a surprise that there weren't many western musicians or composers present. They could have learned so much. Messiaen, for example uses tala and variations, Indian "form" created by tempo changes and directional plateaux rather than formal western symphonic structure. The musicians themselves are articulate, highly enthusiastic about sharing their art. They took over the workshop from the scheduled speaker and wow ! They could demonstrate, counting time as they played. Number sequences are part of Indian rhythm because basic sets are multiplied for melody : no wonder Messiaen heard in it the "music of mathematics". Fantastic ! See link below – they do regular concerts and courses all year round.

As for Kings Place, it's strikingly beautiful, all glass, chrome and marble. And surrounded by canals, so a good place for a drink. Whether it will make money, I'm not sure. It's too small for celebrity names, though excellent for small, intimate music. Innovative programming, too. Each week will be "curated" by different people so there's always an eclectic mix of ideas. Consistency probably doesn't matter so much as long as most of it's exciting. Two days are set side for regular things like talk and new music, but will these be enough to sustain a venue without regular paid-for outside concerts such as support the Wigmore Hall ? Maybe having offices upstairs will bring in steady, predictable income so it will work. It deserves to !
http://www.bhavan.net/
http://www.musicomh.com/classical/kp-day1_1008.htm