Popularising the chenda in Canada
K.K. GOPALAKRISHNAN
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Canadian music composer Bruno Paquet is on a mission to popularise the rhythmic language of the chenda among Western musicians and music lovers.
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I use the language of the maddalam and the tabla to construct the basic language of my compositions and it is on this language that I build the dramatic effect with the chenda.
TAPPING POTENTIAL: Bruno Paquet uses the nuances of the chenda for all his music compositions.
For Montreal-based Canadian music composer Bruno Paquet, the chenda is his favourite musical instrument. He uses the nuances of the chenda for all his music compositions
Now, his endeavour is to popularise this instrument in Canada. In his apartment at the quiet St. Henri Street in Laprairie, on the outskirts of Montreal, Bruno walks down memory lane when talking about his experience in Kerala and his association with the chenda.
Deriving inspiration
At Montreal University he happened to see a Kathakali performance by the renowned Canadian choreographer and alumnus of Kerala Kalamandalam, Richard Tremblay. It was in 1980. The performance and the music of the chenda captivated Bruno, a trained percussionist in Western classical music.
"Soon after that I met Richard and, later, while I was working in a dance company, I asked him if he could perform for my musical composition. But he refused and that upset me; however, we became good friends," recalls Bruno, who later played the chenda for the performances of Tremblay and composed music for most of his contemporary choreographies.
In 1987, Bruno reached Kerala and began his training on the chenda under Kalamandalam Unnikrishnan at Kerala Kalamandalam.
It was an intensive training that lasted for six months.
He also learnt the maddalam from Kalamandalam Nambeesan and Narayanan Nair, "which also later became very useful for my compositions and performances."
In 1991, he returned to Kalamandalam and resumed his training under Unnikrishnan for another five months. During his third visit to India, in 1993, he underwent advance training under Kalanilayam Kunjunni and also learned from Sadanam Vasudevan.
During that period AIR, Tiruvananthapuram, had broadcast a few of his compositions on the chenda.
"The dialogue between the chenda and the maddalam is always fascinating and the combination of these instruments for acting is awesome," feels Bruno.
Imaginative pieces
His compositions are not fusion but highly imaginative ones that taps the potential of the chenda and the maddalam for contemporary creations.
"As an artiste trained in a variety of percussion instruments, including the Western, I turn to the chenda to give a dramatic effect to my compositions, like a symphony. The result is amazing.
"I use the language of the maddalam and the tabla to construct the basic language of my compositions and it is on this language that I build the dramatic effect with the chenda," explains Bruno.
Bruno has played the chenda for jugalbandhis with some of the well-known percussionists like the York (Canada)-based veteran mridamgam artiste Trichy Sankaran.
Bruno's first important work on the chenda for contemporary dance was in 1990. It was for Richard Tremblay's work called `Of mice and other similar devices.'
The chenda and choreography
Since then, he has worked with Tremblay on almost all his contemporary creations and also played the chenda when Tremblay's adaptation of the `The Iliad' in Kathakali format was premiered in Singapore in 2000.
His 2003 composition, `The Panshir's Lion,' presented and premiered by his ensemble, Maha Pooram, at Quebec National Library of Montreal earned him several fans in his country.
Looking back, Bruno feels that his meeting with Richard Tremblay was a gift from god and a turning point in his artistic life. His latest collaboration with Tremblay is for `The Himalayas.'
Bruno has created a notation for playing the chenda and the maddalam, which is very useful for practising.
"I showed these notations to my teacher Unnikrishnan and he approved it with a few suggestions," adds Bruno.
Preserving the chenda and maintaining its sruti in an alien climate was a big challenge.
As a result of his research and experiment on the instrument, he devised a technique with tensors, which are normally used by sailors for sporting boats, to overcome this drawback.
"It is not yet known in Kerala," says a beaming Bruno.
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