Performers: Daniel Pailthorpe, flute; Timothy Jackson, horn; Richard Benjufield, percussion; Anne Solomon, violin; Michael Atkinson, 'cello; Paul Sherman, bass. Conductor, Roger Montgomery.
Published by WiseMusic Classical.
https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/composer/1474/Naresh-Sohal/

Unknown album (19/12/2021 22:08:08)

Hexad - Sextet for Winds and Strings

Performer: Cristina Anghelescu. Recorded 2001, as part of Naresh's first CD of chamber music.

Shades VI for solo violin

Performers: Cristina Anghelescu, violin; Adrian Mantu, 'cello; Mark Troop, piano. Recorded 2001.
Published by Composers Edition.
https://composersedition.com/chamber-nareshsohal/

Trio for violin, 'cello and piano

Shades IV for solo viola

Recorded in 2001 as part of Naresh's first CD of chamber music.
Bogdan Sofei, violin
Ingrid Nicola, violin
Andreea Banciu, viola
Adrian Mantu, cello

Chiaroscuro II for string quartet

Anna Boyes, soprano and Suzy Smith, pianist.
Performed March 11, 2022
Walter Hall, University of Toronto

Poems of Tagore 1

Naresh was very impressed by the skills of harmonica virtuoso, Jiayi He. He also had a long-standing love of the instrument, which he taught himself to play as a boy and could play both ways round. (Jiayi, on the other hand, can play five instruments simultaneously!) When the two of them first met, a strong musical bond was formed. Naresh was interested in having Jiayi as the soloist in a piece for harmonica and orchestra which he had originally written for Larry Adler. In the meantime, while they waited for this project to materialise, Naresh wrote Jiayi this short solo piece (2014) which he could perform anywhere the opportunity arose. (The larger-scale project still hasn't materialised, and anyone interested in bringing it to fruition should contact the Sohal Estate.)
Originally from China, Jiayi has lived for many years in New York. He performs widely across the USA and is a teacher on the faculty of the Brooklyn Music School. He has featured on 'America's Got Talent'.

Shades VIII

BBC Prom commission 1981. First performance 23rd August 1982,
David Wilson-Johnson, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Singers and BBC Symphony
Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Davis, Royal Albert Hall, London.

The Wanderer

Commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
First performance 13th October 1996, BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins, with Sarah Leonard, soprano.
Royal Festival Hall, London.

Lila

First performance 8th April 1993, Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by David Davies, Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow. (LSO commission.)

Tandava Nritya - Dance of Destruction and Re-creation

Commissioned by the BBC.
First performance 24th October 1992.
Soloist Xue Wei, with the BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn
Brabbins.

Violin concerto - second movement

Violin Concerto - first movement

Commissioned by the BBC.
First performance 27th January 1975.
Soloist Thomas Igloi with the BBC
Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Atherton,
Round House, London.

Dhyan 1 - for 'cello and orchestra

Commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. World premiere 25th February 2003, Maida Vale Studios, London.
Soprano: Sally Silver; conductor: Jurjen Hemple
Words: Two poems by Bullay Shah and 'Heer Ranjha' by
Waris Shah. Punjabi text.

Songs of the Five Rivers 1

Commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. World premiere 25th February 2003, Maida Vale Studios, London.
Soprano: Sally Silver; conductor: Jurjen Hempel.

Words: Two poems by Bullay Shah and Heer by
Waris Shah. Punjabi text.

Songs of the Five Rivers 3

First public performance 8th July 1978, Arditti Quartet, Middelburg, Holland.

Chiaroscuro II - string quartet

Commissioned for the English Bach Festival. First performance 1st May 1977. Sarah Walker, Margaret Cable and Rohan de Saram. Purcell Room, London.
Used in a ballet by the London Contemporary
Dance Theatre, 24th April 1978, The Place,
London.

Words: When we two first met from 'The Fugitive and Other Poems' by Rabindranath Tagore.

Poems Of Tagore 2

Large-scale work exploring the creation of the universe from before the time of the Big Bang, as conceived of in Indian philosophy.

The Cosmic Dance

Sally Silver (sop), the Dante String Quartet and Sanju Sahai (tabla) perform Sohal's setting of a devotional poem taken from Tagore's collection 'Gitanjali'. Bengali text, rendered perfectly by the excellent Sally.

Three Songs from Gitanjali (1)

Composed for the Nash Ensemble at an SPNM composers’ week-end.
First performance 13th July 1970. Jane Manning (sop) with the Nash Ensemble,
conducted by Justin Connolly at Queen’s College, Birmingham, UK. This performance the Nash Ensemble, conductor Gary Howarth.
'Kavita' means 'poetry'.
Words, 'I am restless' by Rabindranath Tagore.

Kavita 1 - soprano and ensemble

First performance 27th November 1971, London Sinfonietta conducted by Andrew Davis, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

Aalakhyam 1 - orchestral

CD Track 2

CD Track 1

An account of the day as divided into eight parts as defined traditionally in Indian astrology.
First performance  1970, London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted
by Norman del Mar. SPNM concert, Royal Festival Hall.
Performed here by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with Jane Manning (sop).

Asht Prahar - orchestral

A song in the ghazal tradition of Punjab/northern India, with modern setting.
Words by Abdul Hamid Adam (‘Adam’).
Singer: Parshotam Kapila.
Instrumentation: Voice, sitar, sarangi, guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, tabla.

Ghazal Aap Ke Naam 4 - 'Agar Hum Bhi Sarkar'

A song in the gazhal tradition of Punjab/northern India, with modern setting.
Singer: Sangeeta. Words by Wafa.
Instrumentation: Voice, sitar, sarangi, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, synthesiser.

Ghazal Aap Ke Naam 2 - 'Dil Ki Taskin'

A song in the ghazal tradition of Punjab/northern India  with modern setting.
Vocalist: Parshotam Kapila. Words by 'Adam'.
Instrumentation: Voice, flute, violin, 12 string guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, tabla.

Ghazal Aap Ke Naam 8 - 'Faslai Gul Hai'

A song in the ghazal tradition of Punjab/northern India, with a modern setting.
Singer Parshotam Kapila. Words by Anwar Khalid.
Instrumentation: Voice, flute, violin, percussion, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, harp, synthesiser, tabla.

Ghazal - Aap ke Naam 5, 'Wo Jheel Si Aankhen'

Commissioned with funds provided by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust.
First performance 28th January 1972 by Jane Manning, Clarissa Melville and Anthony Saunders. Wigmore Hall, London.
'Make me thy poet, O night,' from 'Fruit-Gathering' by Tagore

Night's Poet - soprano and ensemble

Commissioned by Julian Gallant.
First performed by the Russian Chamber Orchestra, Soloist: Rivka Golani and conducted by Julian Gallant on 15th February 2005 at St. Johns, Smith Square, London

Viola concerto - first movement

Work for baritone and orchestra drawing on the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore's  'Gitanjali'.
Commissioned by the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. First performance 12th September 1985, John Cheek and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, Avery Fisher Hall, New York.
Words: 1 Thou hast made me endless

From Gitanjali  - 1

A large-scale work, commissioned by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to marke the 70th birthday of their conductor-in-residence, maestro Zubin Mehta. Premiered by them in Israel in 2010.  Performed again in 2011 by the Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra, cond. Zubin Mehta, with Stefan Kurt as narrator.
The text is drawn from the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, where Arjun expresses his doubts about going into battle against his nearest and dearest, and Krishna instructs him in the nature of mortality and of duty.
Text can be rendered in any language. So far, performances have been in Hebrew and German.

The Divine Song

Ballet dealing with the life, tribulations, insights and ultimate enlightenment of Buddha.
Commissioned by BBC Television. World premiere 25th May 1989, Houston Ballet, conductor Glen Langdon, Li Cunxin (Buddha), Wortham Centre, Houston, Texas. Christopher Bruce choreographer.
U.K. premiere 22nd August 1989, Houston Ballet with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conductor Glen Langdon, Li Cunxin (Buddha), at the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh.

Gautama Buddha - ballet - part 1

British composer of Indian origin, 1939-2018 - the first person to establish himself in the West as a composer of music in the Western classical idiom. Awarded Padma Shree in 1987 by the Indian government.  Produced over 60 pieces, ranging from chamber works to large-scale orchestral and choral works. Received eight BBC commissions. including two major Proms commissions.

Naresh Sohal

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