Commissioned and performed by the Orchestra of the Swan, conducted by David Curtis
May 2009
Compton Verney

For Programme Note and more information:
http://www.paramvir.net/n1/show.1.31.A-Spread-of-Dreams.html

A Spread of Dreams (2009)

Kalabadi Galdinami _ Kamer Youth Choir

Commissioned for the ABRSM, for young players.

Spectrum For Cello - 16 Contemporary Pieces

angel blue

Patricia Rozario - Soprano
Rohan de Saram - Cello

Song Cycle

PARAM VIR - Wheeling Past the Stars.mp3

Klangforum Wien plays Raga Fields in Vienna Konzerthaus, conducted by Enno Poppe with Soumik Datta as sarod soloist.

Raga Fields: Three Spaces for Sarod and Ensemble

Raga Fields: Space III

Commissioned by the Beethoven Festival Bonn 2014.

ABLAZE! Christiane Iven And Burkhard Kehring Hamburg 2015

Alpesh Chauhan

...beyond the reach of the world... - Alpesh Chauhan (Cello), Delia Stevens (Percussion)

HTWR 1999

Horse Tooth White Rock movt. 2, Gelders orchestra/M. Hamel

Almeida opera Production from 1996, with the London Sinfonietta cond. Markus Stenz

Broken Strings - Opera in One Act

Broken Strings - Extract

Spectrum 4 [Disc 2]

Ratri - Performed by Thalia Meyers, Piano

Theatre of Magical Beings - mp3 format

Uroborus - From Theatre of Magical Beings (Schoenberg Ensemble)

Performance by Klangforum Wien conducted by Enno Poppe
Sarod soloist Soumik Datta
Konzerthaus, Vienna
23 May 2015

RAGA FIELDS

Three Spaces for Sarod and Ensemble

I         Void

II         Tranquil

III         Vibrant

Raga Fields interlocks contemporary Western music with classical Indian musical tradition, forging a sound world capable of projecting, with intensity, the power and energy of two very different musical traditions. The diverse sides of the mix must stretch their comfort zones to reach to the ‘otherness’ of their counterpart, and to both reflect and confront each other in impassioned and sometimes jagged exchanges. Within the ensemble, modal, tonal and atonal harmonic fields embed and merge into fleeting Raga-like allusions, all encased in contemporary counterpoint and orchestration. The three spaces of the work offer the sarod soloist the opportunity to articulate a unique pathway in every live performance, with his music moving in a seamless stream from notated passages to improvisatory areas of space inhabited by traditional Ragas.

In the first space Void, the sarod music is entirely improvised, with the ensemble gradually drifting in with free-floating mobiles, spontaneously triggered by the musicians in four or five waves. The ensemble music is almost all in the higher registers, and functions as an extended and enriched idea of a drone.

In Tranquil, the sarod alternates between playing within atonal harmonic fields and traditional ragas, and offers a rich counterpoint to the ensemble, which in turn reflects and mirrors the sarod’s phrases. In the final space Vibrant, the sarod music fuses into a dramatic and high-octane mix, diving into a plethora of harmonies and tempi, and fully integrating its music within the ensemble.

The work is a mirror to the contemporary world – where monolithic cultures have given way to a melting pot of possibilities drawn from everything and everywhere. In this sometimes distorting mirror of ever-present otherness, we are challenged to view one another in new light, thereby discovering our common ground and embracing our differences.

Raga Fields was commissioned by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Fulcrum Point New Music Project and Klangforum Wien. It is dedicated to my friend, the composer Randolph Coleman.

PARAM VIR

Raga Fields_with Klangforum Wien, cond. by Enno Poppe with Soumik Datta (sarod)

Delhi-born composer Param Vir is a leading figure in contemporary music. Based in London, his output encompasses works in several genres that include chamber music, symphonic works and opera / music-theatre. His works have been performed by major ensembles, orchestras and opera houses, and presented at several international festivals. He is supported by the PRS Foundation for Music.

The last few seasons have seen the premieres of several major works, including a full-length opera Black Feather Rising, a choral work He Begins His Great Trance for the BBC Singers, A Spread of Dreams for the Orchestra of the Swan, two works for cellist Rohan de Saram and a work for the BCMG and Darbar Asian Arts Heritage. 

His work is inspired by varied sources drawn from world mythology, art and literature. Groups that have performed or given premieres of Vir’s works include The Netherlands Opera, London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, Schoenberg Ensemble, Fulcrum Point (Chicago), Scottish Opera, Music Theatre Wales and Ensemble Modern. Recent premieres include A Cave of Luminous Mind for the 2013 BBC Proms and RAGA FIELDS for BCMG, Fulcrum Point and Klangforum Wien, which has seen performances at Birmingham, Chicago, Cologne, Vienna and Amsterdam. A London premiere followed at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia on 15 October 2015. 

New works just finished: We Want To Live In #Peace, inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis, and A Kinsman to Danger, song cycle for Baritone and Piano, settings of poems by Sri Aurobindo. 

Param Vir is currently working on an opera AWAKENING to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth.

Param Vir was awarded an Honorary DLitt by the University of West London in 2011.

Param Vir

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