Wheeling Past the Stars

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These performances are all superb, by some of the most important ensembles in the UK and EU. Vir is a composer who knows absolutely what he’s doing, and I think probably takes his time to make... — Fanfare, Nov/Dec 2021 More…

Release Date: 28th May 2021
Catalogue No: NMCD265
Label: NMC
Length: 69 minutes

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Vir: Raga Fields

Work length26:51

$5.05

$9.05

$12.25

Soumik Datta (sarod)
Klangforum Wien
Enno Poppe

I. Void

Track length7:13

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

II. Tranquil

Track length9:14

$2.05

$2.60

$3.50

III. Vibrant

Track length10:24

$1.50

$3.85

$5.25

Vir: Before Krishna

Work length8:44

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

London Chamber Orchestra
Odaline de la Martinez

Vir: Wheeling Past the Stars

Work length20:21

$5.00

$6.50

$8.75

Patricia Auchterlonie (soprano), Ulrich Heinen (cello)

I. Unending Love

Track length7:22

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

II. Palm-Tree

Track length4:44

$1.50

$1.30

$1.75

III. Grandfather's Holiday

Track length3:02

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. New Birth

Track length5:13

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Vir: Hayagriva

Work length13:22

$1.00

$3.85

$5.25

Asko/Schönberg
Micha Hamel

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For the first time, Param Vir's music comes together in an album solely dedicated to his works. '[His] music is resounding in my heart as messages of great inner wealth. It is like a new idea of beauty and grace and has all the strength and the energy of great art.' Hans Werner HenzeParam Vir freely draws from mythology, art and literature in his work. The title track of this release, Wheeling Past the Stars, sets the prose of Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and in these four song settings, Patricia Auchterlonie (soprano) and Ulrich Heinen (cello) explore the themes of love, politics, nature, and the rejuvenating effect a child can have on their grandparents.The Austrian contemporary music specialists Klangforum Wien with Micha Hamel join forces with British Indian virtuoso sarod player Soumik Datta for the part notated, part improvised Raga Fields. It is not a work that imitates Indian music but instead 'harnesses rich, contemporary harmonic techniques that facilitate the confluence between the two rich and diverse musical traditions.' (Paul Conway). Through close collaboration with Param Vir over many months, Soumik brings his artistry, insight and imagination to the improvised sections creating an organic development to the music.Param turns to evocative imagery for the other works in this collection. Before Krishna takes inspiration from the images around the birth (and the unusual events preceding it) of Krishna, the most popular and loved of the Hindu gods. Utilising serial techniques, the 'Krishna Row' twists and turns in the hands of the London Contemporary Orchestra and conductor Odaline de la Martinez, who draw out the expressive detail in Param's carefully crafted sequences. In Hayagriva, Vir chooses not to retell the story of the horse-headed incarnation of Vishnu but instead to explore the aspects of the character's supernatural powers. Commissioned and performed by the Schönberg Ensemble, the piece was first formulated during a visit to Peter Maxwell Davies's studio on Orkney Island and quotes an unpublished work by Max, a fitting tribute to a friend who helped guide Param Vir's early career.

Reviews

Nov/Dec 2021

These performances are all superb, by some of the most important ensembles in the UK and EU. Vir is a composer who knows absolutely what he’s doing, and I think probably takes his time to make sure that every note is scrupulously right. That impression comes through strongly in this collection.

23rd May 2021

The Indian composer’s work displays a synthesis of East and West that leaves notions of “crossover” far behind. Raga Fields is a sarod concerto, fascinatingly exploring timbre. The title piece is sumptuous settings of Tagore, with soprano and cello. Hayagriva (Schönberg Ensemble) is an intricate response to mythology, and Before Krishna a 12-tone “overture for strings”, realised by the London Chamber Orchestra.

23rd May 2021

The result is meditative and sonically inventive, neither crossover nor pastiche. The Tagore cycle, for cello (Ulrich Heinen) and soprano (Patricia Auchterlonie), sets four sharply contrasting poems. Auchterlonie’s assured coloratura and Heinen’s springy pizzicato, delicate harmonics and rushes of glissando act in sensuous dialogue.

Wheeling Past the Stars

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