Global Nights: Sudeshna Bhattacharya & Somnath Roy - Premiere

 

Commissioning new music from outstanding artists has become one of Global Oslo Music's core businesses. This commission went to Sudeshna Bhattacharya for her duo with Somnath Roy. They made their debut for a Norwegian audience at Global Nights in 2023. For the first time, the duo played Indian classical music on the sarod from North India and the ghatam from South India, two instruments rarely heard together.

Bhattacharya settled in Norway after over 10 years in France (2001-2013) where she was invited by the French Ministry of Culture as a musician and cultural worker. Since coming to Norway, she has established herself as one of the country's leading instructors and performers of classical Indian music. She has particularly become known for developing and combining different musical traditions from her homeland.

Bhattacharya's instrument, the sarod, is, alongside the sitar, one of the most common stringed instruments in Hindustani music. Unlike the sitar, the sarod has no frets and is played with a plectrum made from the shell of a coconut. Roy plays the ghatam, a modified water container and the oldest percussion instrument in Indian classical music (over 5,000 years old).

In India, there are two traditions of Indian classical music, namely Hindustani music from North India and Carnatic music from South India. Bhattacharya and Roy are said to be the first to merge these two traditions. Hindustani and Carnatic music have both similarities and differences; they have the same origin and both express nine different moods or emotions. In simple terms, these are: Erotic love, joy, empathy, energetic power, heroism, fear, disgust, being impressed and feeling harmony, all of which affect different parts of the body and mind.

The performance of the musical pieces (ragas) is linked to specific times of the day and a season in Hindustani music, however, this does not exist in Carnatic music. Improvisation is more important in Hindustani music, while composition is more important in Carnatic music. In Hindustani music, the ragas have a much longer intro (Alap) before percussion enters than in Carnatic music.

This unique combination of musical traditions was the reason why Global Oslo Music wanted to commission a work for the duo. In this context, Bhattacharya has researched various techniques that add new interpretations to the two traditions. The audience will be able to experience a completely new approach to the nine different "moods" that underlie the ragas. Alongside the duo Bhattacharya & Roy, Shervin Bukhari is invited to the premiere performance on the tanpura instrument.

 

Sudeshna Bhattacharya
Bhattacharya has been a student of the world's greatest sarod maestro, the legend Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. In 2003, the French Ministry of Culture invited her to France and offered her a ten-year contract. She lived in Marseilles where she gave concerts and workshops at home and abroad, participated in recordings and cultural events. After her stay in France, Bhattacharya moved to Norway in 2013. Here she lectured for master's students at the Norwegian Academy of Music and has also had extensive concert activities, including at the Kongsberg Festival, Mandaljazz, Melafestivalen , Motvind, Dype Åndedrag, Cosmopolite, Riksscenen, Kafé Hærverk and Global @ Deichman under the direction of Global Oslo Music.

 

Somnath Roy
Roy appeared on the Grammy-nominated album “Om Namah Narayana” (2010). He has played at prestigious festivals in India, toured worldwide, and worked for the Bengali film industry with legendary film directors such as Rituparno Ghosh.

 

Shervin Bukhari
Shervin's main instrument is the Indian flute bansuri, which he studies with Sudeshna Bhattacharya. More recently, he has also accompanied Sudeshna on tanpura. Shervin is currently a research fellow at OsloMet Metropolitan University.

 

The work is funded by the Norwegian Composers' Fund.

 

Global Nights is Global Oslo Music's annual festival where mainly new productions are presented. With support from the Arts Council of Norway and the City of Oslo.