The above front cover is the German version
Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin are almost exact contemporaries. During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Shankar assumed a position of paramount importance, mainly because of his collaboration with the Beatles and his involvement in the Concert for Bangladesh. However,
for some obscure reason, his traditional Indian music was not able to command the same interest later on. Menuhin is especially remembered because of his interpretative genius, although he was a musical prodigy: the pupil of Enescu, an exquisite conductor, and a refined composer. The latter quality was only utilized for special occasions and the scant information does not leave us in a position to ascertain the reason behind Menuhin’s compositions we have on disc. Although the compositional spirit of both artists seems to be similar, there are some important differences worth pointing out. Shankar’s music on this album is a patchwork of sitar-based pieces linked by a common thread of chant (the Asian musician has also recorded an album of traditional Hindu mantras set to classical Indian music). His ecstatic ragas (which are normally improvisational jazz-like pieces) also employ the use of low ranges, and a manipulation of scoring to increase the dramatic contrast. The model for all these traits is to be found in such masterpieces as RAGA ANANDA BHAIRAVA, RAGA PILOO, and SWARA KAKALI, all based on ancient Indian ragas for which Shankar seems to have a great admiration. Menuhin’s compositions betray a certain affinity with Debussy and the French Impressionist tradition. His more functional style aspires to not much more than the simple harmonization of the violin and the sitar tunes, and through the languid and relaxed charm of this music, he is able to create some wonderful reflective melodies out of the simplest of ideas, as in TENDERNESS and TWILIGHT MOOD. These two exemplary musicians of the WEST-MEETS-EAST tradition, as they were initially known, are truly fine examples of transcultural polyphonic art when it was starting to flourish, in the late 1960’s, and which was to culminate in the absolute masterworks of the fusion era, with its peak in the 1990’s. This is an amazing recording despite its lean playing time. DANIEL DELEANU
Tracklisting:
A1 Tenderness
A2 Twilight Mood
B1 The Enchanted Dawn
B2 Morning Love
Vinyl~Flac l 240 mbs l separate download for scans
Download part 1
Download part 2
Download part 3
Download Front and Rear Vinyl scans
DownloadCBR 320kbps MP3 l 90 MB
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