Next Tuesday, Chennai’s music-lovers can look forward to the world premiere of a new song-cycle (individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence, as a unit).
Titled A Kinsman to Danger , it has been created by Delhi-born composer Param Vir. The project is the brainchild of Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams, who will be singing the piece, accompanied by the consummate pianist Paula Fan. Williams had long admired Vir’s operas, before discussing with him in 2016, “the possibility of his writing a song cycle for me”.
He approached London’s Performing Rights Society for Music Foundation for funding, and this led to the international collaboration with KM Music Conservatory to host the world premiere.
Experience matters
Vir’s works span several genres, including chamber music, symphonic works and opera, with inspiration as artfully eclectic as Euripidean tragedy, the Anish Kapoor sculpture ‘Cloud Gate’ or Tagore’s poetry.
For the upcoming work, the London-based composer turns to four poems by Sri Aurobindo.
The verses illuminate how inner search is a powerful journey, he explains, quoting, “Stark must he be and a kinsman to danger/Who shares my kingdom and walks at my side.”
Vir believes that the poet’s references to natural phenomena — such as the ocean, brooks and tempests — “are all in their own ways, expressions of the infinite and the ineffable”.
The resultant combination of poetry and music draws great praise from the performers. “The song cycle was definitely a technical challenge, but before putting fingers to keys, I read the poetry,” says Fan, adding, “I hope that listeners will be as struck as I was, by how Vir’s music illuminates the text. Of course, the actual act of putting together the two complex parts, voice and piano, can be a challenge, when partners are separated by an ocean and a continent.”
Working together
Williams worked on various sketches of the songs with Vir at his home in London. The performers and composer got together for final rehearsals in Cardiff. Fan says they were “caught up in the sweep, the murmurs, and the glistening sounds of the score”.
The 15-minute-long Kinsman is the centrepiece of a concert that will feature art songs including works by Henry Purcell, George Butterworth, and Welsh composer Grace Williams. From Chennai, the work tours to Pune and Mumbai.
A Kinsman to Danger will take place at KM Music Conservatory Auditorium on April 10 at 7 pm. Free entry. 43444786
