HYDERABAD: Anyone who waits eagerly for Beating Retreat after the Republic Day celebrations will be able to understand the legacy of the music churned out by the bands of defence forces.
Though the bands are only seen playing in public at the military ceremony, a group of select invitees got a chance to witness some truly melodious music, courtesy the prestigious band of Eastern Naval Command recently.
The Indian Naval Band performed after a gap of five years at Public Gardens recently. The symphonic band comprising of 45 members was led by Lieutenant-Commander SK Champion, Command Musician Officer, Eastern Naval Command.
Versatility is the hallmark of the Indian Naval Band whether arranged as a military marching band or as a symphonic wind ensemble. The repertoire of the band ranged from stirring martial music, arrangements of symphonies, overtures, and a host of other forms of contemporary genres including pop ad folk music and other popular Indian music with Hindi retro and Telugu melodies.
The event saw the band performing compositions of John Williams, Jurassic Park theme song, Star Wars, Rock n Roll Medley, Fanfare and Raag Fusion to name a few. The Hindi and Telugu compositions were proof that Indian tunes were the flavour of the ceremony this year. Trombone, Xylophone solo and Piccolo Duet left spectators squinting in the fading light to find the source of the echo effect created by the navy bands.
Speaking at the Indian Naval Band Concert, Station Commander (Navy) Rear Admiral Kalidoss Srinivas said, “This is done as a part of the Navy week. The Navy week is to commemorate the 1971 victory over Pakistan and also to pay a tribute to all the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the victory. Apart from marching and other things, the bands go abroad with the Naval ships and perform. Just like electrical, technical and engineering branches, there is a special branch in the Navy called musician branch where people with musical background are chosen and are further trained in specific instruments. We have Navy bands only at important stations like Vishakhapatnam, Mumbai, Lonavala and these bands go to other places like Chennai,
Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad where there are no bands.”
The Indian Naval Band will be next seen performing at the Republic celebrations on Januray 26.