Navrasa was commissioned by Indian virtuoso pianist Pervez Mody.
Pervez ji called me up one evening from his residence in Lahr, Germany and
requested from me a sizeable piece which would reflect on our common Indian heritage, albeit with a contemporary colour. Finding the suggestion interesting, I immediately embarked on a recce to search for a reasonable “Indian” basis. A sudden flash of recollection made me remember that a mere two years prior to the composition, I had decided to write a suite of nine pieces for guitar called “Navrasas” based on the eponymous nine sentiments (or emotions) which have been dominating the daily practices of our Indian performing arts since time immemorial. After pitching my idea to Pervez ji, his enthusiasm about my proposal gave me the encouragement to commence work on the project.
The music was composed between May and August 2022. Since then, Pervez Mody has premiered the piece in 2023 and has performed the cycle all over Germany.
The nine pieces are:
1. Sringara (Love) [00:09]
2. Bibhatsa (Disgust) [02:38]
3. Karuna (Compassion) [04:14]
4. Shanta (Peace) [05:46]
5. Hasya (Laughter) [08:47]
6. Bhayanka (Fear) [09:59]
7. Raudra (Anger) [13:03]
8. Veera (Bravery) [15:10]
9. Adbhuta (Wonder) [17:16]
The whole collection should last approximately 20 minutes.
27 сен 2024
