Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Our father was a great musician
and we are always so tremendously inspired,
by his singing and vina play.
I first learnt a Indian music
the ragas and talas. Our father taught us to sing
a different ragas and to beat different talas.
And even my elder sister taught
to dance, Indian dances.
One of the my remembrances that I have
went to a concert in Paris
my uncle took me to.
First concert that I ever heard
Western music
because I never knew as child
that Western music existed. I only knew about Eastern music
because my father taught us Indian music,
and sang very often to us.
And that I had the privilege of hearing
Misha Elman playing, the violin Concerto
Beethoven with the
Orchestra of Amsterdam.
I was so tremendously impressed I run home
and begged my mother to have a violin.
"I want to violin! I want to violin!"
Finally I got that violin
and studied like anything until I could play
as well as Misha Elman.
And at quite young age I had the privilege
at being Ecole Normal de Music,
which was the most prestigious Music
School in Paris founded by
Thibaut, Cartot and Casals.
And we had the great teachers, like Thibaut for violin,
Nadia Boulanger for composition,
and Enescu for chamber music.
At certain stage of my life I was
a violinist in the orchestra, first in Utrecht (Holland)
then in Haarlem.
And then of course I quite a lot,
of technique as far as how a different instruments
functioning, what they can do and what they cannot do,
how they combine. Playing in the orchestra is really the only
way learn how to put the scores together.
I have a duty, I feel it as a duty,
to combine Western, classical harmony
together with the Indian ragas.
And one of the most typical compositions is my
"Gandhi Symphony", which I composed in memory
of Gandhi, because I was always a great admirer of Gandhi.
That composition has been played at
UNESCO radio in New York at homage
to Gandhi. Which was the great privilege for me.
In that composition
I really tried to prove that one can
in put ragas in to Western harmonic structures.
My father founded that he call
the "International Sufi Movement."
This is the movement, which is based on the great
ideals, of the unity of spiritual ideals.
But unity of spiritual ideals to be understood
as love and understanding and tolerance to believe
of each person. To try to be a living
example of those great ideals of
Love, Harmony and Beauty.
Spirituality can not belong to
any one religion. There is no such thing
as Hindu spirituality or Muslim spirituality
Christian spirituality or Jewish spirituality
or your spirituality or my spirituality.
Spirituality is spirituality, it does not belong to anybody
and it cannot be imposed, and cannot be bought or taught.
It can only be discovered.
Music - is one of those outlets of the heart.
Where heart can expressed itself
without really being limited by words and thoughts.
Where a feeling flies forth beyond thoughts
beyond anything can we defined.
Of course there are other arts naturally.
I like to say that the music is the most subtle art
of all arts.