Azure Miles Records ~ The Music of Michael Robinson
Michael Robinson
Chinese Legend
1. Chinese Legend (Udaya Ravichandrika) (1997) 11.21
Meruvina: sitar, tabla, African harp, kawala, erhu, biwa, clarinet, cuica, bonang, esraj, two tanpuras
2. From Hills of Snow (Bilaskhani Todi) (1997) 21.27
Meruvina: piano, tabla, Indian percussion, 2 tanpuras
3. Porcelain Nights (Gunkali) (1997) 30.23
Meruvina: zither, South America percussion, tanpura
| Chinese Legend | |
| From Hills of Snow | |
| Porcelain Nights |
Chinese
Legend originated with the main repeated melodic figure that came to me while
driving home over Coldwater Canyon after midnight following an informal and
moving sitar performance by Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy at his home. Out of curiosity,
I searched for a raga that contained the same swaras or tones of my newfound
melody, discovering Udaya Ravichandrika, a South Indian raga. There is some
controversy over whether to use a natural or flat seventh. I decided to use
both. The main melodic voice here is a sitar, the instrument of Ravi Shankar.
During
the fall of 1997, Martin Perlich, the distinguished KUSC Los Angeles radio host,
played Chinese Legend inbetween music by Mozart and C.P.E. Bach, describing
my music as “highly recommended for people interested in living composers.”
From
Hills of Snow was inspired by a recording of raga Bilaskhani Todi by sitarist
Rais Khan and Sultan Khan, the sarangi artist. Bilas Khan composed this elegiac
raga in the sixteenth century for the funeral of his father, Tansen, one of
the greatest figures in the history of Hindustani music. Tansen had disapproved
of his son's marriage, and they had not spoken for years. Upon completion of
its first performance, this profoundly moving raga miraculously caused Tansen's
arm to move with a gesture of forgiveness. I have chosen a piano timbre with
an Indian tuning for this composition.
Porcelain
Nights was a great pleasure and challenge for me. It is based on raga Gunkali,
an inspirational early morning raga that was sung by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan on
one of the first Indian classical music recordings I ever heard. It remains
a favorite to this day. The zither timbre employed here is a tribute to santoor
artist Shivkumar Sharma. After completing the work, I was fortunate to come
across his own version of Gunkali, and I subsequently decided to replace my
original tanpura pattern with the one he uses to "create the atmosphere"
of Gunkali.
All
three of these compositions were written in 1997.
-
Michael Robinson, January 1999, Los Angeles
© 1999 Michael Robinson All rights reserved