R&GCO

Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao - Live, In Concert : Symbiosis was released globally on November 3, 2023.

Colloquy is honored to present excerpts from a conversation with Panditji that provide meaning and insight about artistic purpose to enable our appreciation of the music in the album. 

Question : While you have been known to perform a wide variety of classical and modern Ragas, a notable characteristic of your repertoire is the selection of symbiotic scales for improvisation. Even as they are relatively complex and harder to elucidate proficiently, you seem to have a particular liking for them. What may be the reason? 

Answer : I am not swayed by the ease or difficulty that a scale intrinsically asks for so it is understood, and better, performed as it should.

If I may quote the Sama Veda, to me "that which colors the mind with emotion is music."

Such emotion can come with chanting of a single note, as in ancient times. Or it can come from a unique set of note intervals set to a unique structure, precepts of emphasis and patterns that collectively generate unique emotions in the hands and expressions of a sensitive performer. That is a choice I make as an artist.

My skill and aesthetic need to rise to the challenge of a Raga, simple or complex, so that the emotion - prescribed by venerated sages and composers from hundreds of years ago - is felt by my audience as much as me. My technique has to be rigorous enough so it can quietly serve the purpose of generating the appropriate feeling righteously. To me that is the barometer of artistic excellence. 

Q : What is the charm - perceived, inherent or implied - in symbiotic scales? Why do you like to improvise with them? 

A : From the beginning of time as we know it, the vast Indian subcontinent stretching from the Himalaya mountains down to its southern shores of oceans was but one single entity, with but one single language, viz. Sanskrit. With time and change, the land branched into segments, the language gave birth to multiple other languages, some of whom then fed the development of European and middle eastern dialects and expressions, including Urdu, Persian, German and the English language.

This evolution also encouraged the development of intricate musical systems - such as our Hindustani and Carnatic systems - from common origins in simple one-note, monophonic chants. Our Raga repertoire is but an immense collection of sister scales, a vast, interrelated family originating in the chanting of a single note.

 When I contemplate this I see what is common, what are the underlying relationships, the intricacies that both bind and shine in their common heritage, while at the same time making them unique - highlighting beauty that would otherwise not be felt. I understand Byron more than ever that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. The more I strive to know more about our origins, the origins of language, the evolution of our music over time, the silent but reaffirming relationships among diverse entities, the more I am attracted to what is common among otherwise distinctly perceived musical scales.

To me, there is plentiful subtlety in understanding rare and symbiotic scale structures. That, in turn, challenges me to improvise with them to my artistic delight. If I do this correctly, aesthetically and with artistic integrity, it communicates delight to my audience as well. 

Q :  So then can one combine two Ragas - or interval scales, for lack of a better definition - and create one’s own Raga? 

A : One can do what one pleases if that satiates one’s need for creativity. But, of course, music is a lot more. It is both science and art. A valid symbiotic scale or Raga seemingly originating in two or more scales is a lot more than a simplistic combination of such scales. Each of the originating scales is grounded in structure, prescribed patterns, emphasis and expressions that need to be preserved even upon combination. 

A good parallel lies in genetic biology. Man and woman are sufficiently different, but amply complementary, with common and distinct genealogy. A child born to man and woman shares plenty that is common with its parents, but also plenty that is unique and distinctive, both in genealogy and its expressions in physical behavior and emotional makeup. That this happens, and happens anywhere and everywhere - regardless of geography, race, culture or environment - is a Godgiven gift in which we should rejoice. That this can happen in music - if and when done with the best intentions, appropriate technical rigor and unfailing respect for tradition - is a blessing we artists and composers and performers should cherish. 

Q : When listening to some of your compositions such as Surya Kauns, Vijayranjani, Mamta, Bhoopkali, Sundar Kauns, Ambika Sarang, Hansa Naad and others how does one who knows not much about the science, art, philosophy or origins of music appreciate the performances? Those who know have marveled and expressed praise, but to many the selections are new and unheard. 

A : There is just one way to appreciate, regardless of how much you know. Does it, as scripture says, harken emotions that touch your mind? Nothing more and nothing less. 

A verse in the Upanishad is enlightening in this context. 

The personality of God is complete, perfect and untainted by perceptions of form and attribution. It is absolute and all pervasive. So are all emanations from God, such as nature. 

As long as a creation remains a part of this stream of evolution, those who experience it feel elated. A sublime connection pervades the aesthetic experience. A more common metaphor lies in our physical body. The hand of a body is a complete unit only as long as it is attached to the body. When severed from the body, it may yet appear like a hand but in actuality it has none of the potencies of a hand. 

Q :  When music originates from such profound intentions, does it not run the risk of alienating itself from the world as we know it today? 

A : It does, sadly. It is not society’s fault, though, that much of art goes by the wayside into chasms of indifference. Contemporary culture has been forced to make false choices, such as between art and perfunctory entertainment, mostly for purposes of accruing easy monetary benefits. It is a lot easier to sit back and collect money off short-term, sensual arousal than to take the responsibility of enlightening potential audiences on matters of artistic intent, the intrinsic beauty in unique expression, the latent rigor in technique that enables profound meaning - all of which can influence lives for the better.                 

Of all the art forms, music has the innate capability to bridge deeply personal meditative moorings with immediately contemporary challenges plaguing the world in which the musician lives. That is the way out of artistic alienation. More than ever, now is the time for musicians anywhere in this chaotic world to communicate the value of music as a natural binding factor between human beings, irrespective of differences - most of which are, in fact, trivial when held up to the larger lens of our common humanity. 

Unity is not uniformity - the very life breath of music emanates from celebrating fresh and throbbing diversity in the larger canvas of our oneness. Symbiosis is a value to embrace, communicate and perpetuate such diversity: in music, in life, in our troubled world.

Written by Steve Elchuri
Special thanks to Mrs. Lakshmi V. Rao & family.

Q2, 2023

April 2023

Thank you for the plaudits in response to the release of Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao: Ode to Peace - Symphony for Large Orchestra & Voices, performed by The Indian National Orchestra & Choral Ensemble.  

Press reviews in publications including The Financial Express and The Cultural Causerie cull out interesting facets of the music, such as -

• A masterpiece - spinning a mood of musical harmony, suffused with emotional portrayal and novel intensity. The team of over one hundred eminent musicians and renowned vocalists makes the performance acquire a sublime, pristine virtuosity. The mood of the composition - dedicated to peace and presented in five movements - is conveyed in a perfect balance of differing styles and exhilarating rhythms
   
• Pioneering approach in the orchestration of Indian music
   
• Timely in thought and content
   
• Vocal passages sung by eminent musicians blend well with the instrumental score making the performance acquire sublime qualities unknown to Indian orchestral music
   
• The performance signals the evolution of the young art of Indian classical orchestral music into the realm of symphonic music
   
• The breadth and depth of the composer’s musical ideas are conveyed through unique sound patterning and pristine virtuosity that adhere to the preferred path of Indian classical music of both the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions
   
• In line with high expectations congruent with the esteemed composer and conductor, the performance opens new vistas of musical possibilities for a traditional art-form
   
• Eloquent music of a malleable quality that conveys the horrors of war, the forces of darkness and the simple joys of life in a peace-filled world fit for children
   

Q4, 2022

The Making Of Ode to Peace

Symphony for Large Orchestra & Voices

A Conversation with Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao

The music album Ode to Peace : Symphony for Large Orchestra & Voices, Performed by The Indian National Orchestra & Choral Ensemble was released worldwide on November 3rd, 2022. Apropos, we offer a brief conversation with composer & conductor Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao -  perspective that provides context and enlightenment to enhance our listening pleasure. 

Q: What motivated you to write Ode to Peace?

Answer: It is perhaps the saddest trait of humanity that we rarely experience universal peace. Our history as a species is fraught with war and deceit, pain and suffering inflicted as a result of selfishness. The urge to possess something that does not belong to us is as primal as the natural, latent drive to reproduce and extend one’s lineage for whatever it is worth. The desire to perpetuate that which has stoked our ego is difficult to give up. 

Civilizations that have experienced any reasonable peace exhibit innate learning stemming from a conscious choice to curb such raw and untamed instinct. Such societies have perceived happiness in practicing self-restraint, sacrifice and giving for greater good. Unfortunately, such civilizations are few and sporadic in time. 

Ode to Peace is my humble, artistic offering to spark an examination of who we are and what we should do to achieve the peace that is so vital for our existence as a species.

Q: Why use music for such lofty goals when political dialogue, for instance, is called for?

Answer: Art is a unique form of human expression. Music is a unique art form that knows no boundaries of geography, political leaning, latent or manifest prejudice. A fine musical expression freely touches anyone, often inasmuch as encouraging fresh thinking and change. Ideas, big or small, untainted by personal motive, are best conveyed through music. Like the rays of the sun, music has the power to illuminate common heritage across the length and breadth and depth of our world. The most wonderful gift bestowed upon human beings is the power to express their inner selves through the sounds of music. Reciprocally, music elevates our minds to such enthralling heights that we can forget all shackles of country, class, religion, language and background to appreciate its progressive intent. 

I am incredibly fortunate that my ideas and the music that embodied them were thought to be worthy enough by the government of India to sponsor this orchestral work. There were no barriers in my way, what hurdles cropped up were quickly overcome to help me accomplish what I envisioned. It takes a common understanding based on shared values to enable such a project. Our culture - indeed the culture of civilizations that understand the benefits of peace - has encouraged values in which we inherently believe as a people, as members of one big family that is humanity. Music is the language of this family.

Q:  What about the reasoning that true peace in our world means economic prosperity. How can music achieve that?

Answer: I have a movement in the composition that speaks to such a dilemma. Simply put, the proposition I make - with roots in scripture - is it all stems from the individual. If an individual in a society treads the righteous path in all he or she does, it shows and it spreads. A society that thinks, speaks and acts shared values attains a certain civility. When civility is the norm among members of a society, it soon leads to a civil, equanimous country at peace. Economic well being follows, based as it is on collective trust, shared and meaningful risk, equitable benefit: all of which perpetuates more of the same. When individuals in more than a country do the same, a similar dynamic comes into play - in other words values drive behaviors at the individual level, eventually leading to widespread peace and prosperity. What music can do is awaken the individual's intellect to the meaning of a value system, presenting what makes us who we are, shining light on what makes us tick and what takes us far from who we can be. By extolling our values subtly and loudly, music is the best way to propagate their practice, for triggering a chain reaction that spreads our values from a person to his / her neighbor, their society, country and eventually the world.

Q; What are the choices you made for the composition to take the form in which it is performed?

Answer: I consciously chose the form of musical expression codified in the term ‘ode’. It has origins and usage in many ancient civilizations, such as those in France, Greece, Germany, Russia and, of course, in ancient India. An apt definition of the word ‘ode’ from the English dictionary is worth mentioning in this context. 

An ode is a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, often elevated in style or manner and written in varied or irregular meter. 

My musical composition exemplifies an ode to the subject of peace among human beings. It goes without saying that I am honored to hear my music alongside Beethoven’s, my idol, whose Symphony No. 9 / 'Ode to Joy' is one of my cherished musical works. 

I have composed Ode to Peace in the form of five sequential movements. 

Discord, the first movement, presents an impression of what discord and the resulting turmoil means to me in terms of my music. 

From persistent experience of discord arises a driving urge to understand its basis, its covariates, the often unmentioned causes and solutions: collectively, I like to call such insight Discernment. I feel that recourse to the axioms of spirituality provide the necessary understanding. When we, the human species, rely upon time-tested, spiritual precepts, we discern perennial meaning. We see light where there was darkness, a path forward where there was none. 

Armed with a discerning perspective, we can carve a path through uncertainty, mistrust, deception and doubt. The odyssey can seem overwhelming and beyond the realm of possibility, but our determination to overcome odds is equal to the faith we have. 

The fourth movement is an expression of one of the keys to enlightenment, viz. a realization that we, all of us, friend and foe, are ultimately one. We have evolved from one, we will ultimately devolve into one. Seeing something of us in others, building upon it, realizing the collective fruits of our oneness is the key to common peace. Peace between two will lead to peace among many. 

The fifth movement is my expression of elation realized from peace. Genuine peace allows us to see the diversity inherent in our collective beings as but a manifestation of the breadth of our oneness. From one we are many; from sharing the multiplicity of our collective uniqueness we reinforce our oneness, and thus realize elusive peace. No different than members of a family, we see our happiness made up of the happiness of each one.

Q: What is noteworthy, in your opinion, about the performance presented on this album?

Answer: The composition calls for eighteen different types of instruments, alongside a choral ensemble and five vocalists representing each of five distinct, stylistic schools, or gharanas, of classical music. The nature of the subject, the musical form, the various expressive sections and the goal of illustrating common and diverse threads that lead to an integral union of mind, spirit and consequent intention called for over a hundred of the finest performers, drawn from all parts of the country. Without them there would be no realization of my score. If one enjoys - and goes as far as to appreciate - the sentiments of peace as expressed in the music, it is all because of them.

Written by Steve Elchuri, courtesy of Pt. VIjay Raghav Rao, Smt. Lakshmi V. Rao & Family