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Photo: Murali kumar k.

come together Catherine Potter cast a musical spell

The programme comprised, in the main, Potter’s own compositions. The Duniya Project has recently released an album in India, and is presently touring the country. The evening’s performance included Gori, a quick-paced, playful piece and Kutila, which includes a dialogue between drums and tabla. The repeated plucking of a single string on the double bass set off a deep, haunting reverberation.

There were indications of musical influences from across the world—Balinese music and flamenco, energetic drumming and dialogue between the instruments, the mild-mannered tabla engaging with the powerful drums.

The kalimba, an African instrument, was used largely to produce a short sequence of sounds repeated several times over—shut your eyes, and you see a merry caravan of camels swaying across the dunes. The East West Encounter 2008 is on at the Alliance Francaise until February 24. It is a site also for east-east encounters and west-west exchanges. In the audience on Saturday, to witness the Duniya Project from Canada, were the performers of the next day’s concert, the Galatea quartet from Switzerland.

Galatea is a name drawn from Greek mythology. The sculptor Pygmalion made a beautiful woman’s statue in ivory. So beautiful, he fell in love with it and pleaded with goddess Aphrodite to bring it to life. His pleas are heard, and he is able to marry his Galatea.

Pygmalion brought a statue to life; the quartet imbues life to music. Sunday’s performance began with a twentieth century composition from Frank Martin, a Swiss composer. Julien Kilchenmann, who plays the violincello, offered brief introductory information on the composers and their compositions. Perhaps Aruna Sunderlal, Director of the Bangalore School of Music and master music pedagogue, had urged on the performers the need to also educate the audience about the music? Western classical music makes demands even on audiences. Indian audiences are often impatient with expressions of appreciation, clapping even before the piece has ended. Sunday, however, was a different day; you could hear a pin drop between the different movements.

The performance included quartets from Mozart and Beethoven. Mozart is said to have composed the quartet in D Minor on the night his wife delivered their first child.

The silence of night, and the joy of birth are both elegantly captured in the piece, and the performance was impeccable. Beethoven’s Opus 74 in E flat major is a challenge to perform, as the sounds of the harp are replicated by the four instruments. This too was performed with ease and precision. Just as one movement ended, the low and mournful horn of a passing train on the not-so-distant tracks left a puzzled expression on the performers’ faces.

The Galatea quartet is a young quartet, all four performers only touching 30. The first violinist, Yuka Tsuboi, is originally Japanese. When only 19, she performed with Yehudi Menuhin and the Philharmonica Hungarica. With Sarah Kilchenmann, David Schneebeli and Julien Kilchenmann, this young Japanese lady tours India in a commemoration of sixty years of the signing of the Indo-Swiss Friendship Treaty. How much closer can an East-West encounter get?

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