When two streams met

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan and Scottish Chamber Orchestra conductor David Murphy reveal what happened when they sat down to create confluence music

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan and Scottish Chamber Orchestra conductor David Murphy reveal what happened when they sat down to create confluence music

It took Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and David Murphy three years to create the music they played last night, and they are happy with the outcome of their collaboration.

"We don't read and write music," Amjad Ali, one of India's most famous sarod players, told a press conference before the Samaagam concert yesterday. "And it amazes me that in Western music, they can read and write music so perfectly."

Indian musicians are experts at improvisation, and can easily create music without a written score. For Elizabeth Dooner, who plays the flute and manages Amjad Ali's publicity, the collaboration was a "tremendous opportunity" because it pointed her in the direction of how music can be made spontaneously.

"We are used to reading notes someone else has written down," she said, and explained how musicians of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra had begun to understand and appreciate Indian music as they played along with the raga-based compositions of Amjad Ali.

David Murphy, the conductor of the orchestra who has earlier worked with Pandit Ravi Shankar, notated the score in Delhi before he took it back to the United Kingdom to work with his musicians.

Creating harmonies for Indian ragas was more of a challenge than a problem, he told MiD DAY. Ragas have strict rules about what notes can be used, and what avoided. "There are many who believe in the purity of traditions," he said. "But this could be the way of future collaborations."

Murphy has a deep interest in diverse musical traditions, and is trying to find their common roots.

For his part, Amjad Ali prefers to look at Samaagam (meaning 'confluence') more as mood music than grammar-bound raga music, although he has based his compositions on ragas popular in the Hindustani tradition, and ragas such as Subhalakshmi, which he has created.

It amazes me that in Western music, they can read and write music so perfectly
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

There are many who believe in the purity of traditions, but this could be the way of future collaborations
David Murphy

We are used to reading notes someone else has written down
Elizabeth Dooner