Connecting cultures through music

 For renowned musicians Padma Shri Aruna Sairam and Dominique Vellard, their camaraderie in music goes back to approximately 22 years. Having collaborated with each other for a number of musical
Dominique Vellard
Dominique Vellard

KOCHI: For renowned musicians Padma Shri Aruna Sairam and Dominique Vellard, their camaraderie in music goes back to approximately 22 years. Having collaborated with each other for a number of musical projects, the pair are back together for a piece ‘Heaven and Earth’, which is to be performed today at 6.30 pm at Bharat Bhavan in the city. Showcased as part of the Indo-French cultural exchange festival, the ‘East-meets-West’ piece will be a unique treat for music lovers, according to the noted Carnatic vocalist. However, the Padma Shri awardee prefers to call it an interactive piece rather than a musical blend.

Speaking more on the performance, the musician says, “The idea behind this is to give the audience a glimpse of the special connection that exists between the music and culture rather than blending the two together. There are connections at so many levels, be it the content of the lyrics or maintaining the same melody. It is a conversation which takes place through music.”While Aruna Sairam will explore the poems of Thirukkural through her Carnatic music, it will be complemented by the Gregorian Chant, a style of medieval music.

Aruna Sairam
Aruna Sairam

For French artist Dominique Vellard, who has also received the title of Chevaliar which is one of the highest recognitions in France, exploring medieval music has been a process of continuous research and analysis. Elaborating more on his piece, Dominique Vellard says, “The piece I perform is a form of monophonic music with one line and one melody, popular between the 10th to 14th century. The performance explores the single melody and the number of possibilities it has.

As the music has evolved, there has been changes in styles. However, my aim is to reconstruct the medieval western music as it is.”According to the French musician, it has been a wonderful platform, sharing the space with Aruna. Dominique says, “She has an incredible repertoire and wonderful sensibility when it comes to music. It has been an interesting experience, combining this very early music from Europe and showing a connect with the Carnatic music tradition.”

Thirukkural became the natural choice for Aruna, as she wanted an ancient traditional source as the root. Elaborating more on ‘Heaven and Earth’, the Carnatic vocalist says, “In thirukkural there is a certain section of poems which describes the love between human beings. The songs, which I will be narrating in the course of my performance, are an elaboration of Sringara rasa.

The title for theis heaven and earth. From love between human beings, it is soon elevated to the concept of love between the human and divine. While it is Sringara on one side, on the other it is the yearning of the soul to merge with the divine. Hence the title ‘Heaven and Earth’.” His piece will maintain the same melody. That’s a very strong connection, which you don’t expect in european music. There is connection in the content of the lyrics. Really worked hard on that. Their fifth collaborative project, ‘Heaven and Earth’ has already been staged in Tanjore. The duo will be performing next in Mumbai, Udaipur and Chennai.

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