Strumming magic

East-West Encounter

Sounds from the guitar spun their magic around the audience at the Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, Bangalore School of Music, as the ‘Madras Guitar Quintet’ headed by Thangadurai Samuel performed as part of the BSM’s ‘15th East West Music and Dance Encounter 2017’. The musical feast included Western classical, Spanish and light classical music, composed by Fernando sor, Boccherini, Pachelbel, and the composition by Thangadurai Samuel.

“Our presentation and style, though strictly Western classic, is not inhibiting and anyone in the audience belonging to any age group will be able to relate to the music. It’s not restricted to a concert hall and is something that everyone will enjoy,” said Thangadurai ahead of the concert.

 The skilled musicians played a range of pieces in the Western classical guitar tradition. A variety of emotions were showcased through their music from melancholy to delight, with pain, peace and various other human emotions being expressed through the different pieces that they played.

Some of the delightful pieces that were performed by the quintet included ‘Waltz of the Flowers’, ‘La Paloma’ and ‘Andreaccio’ among others. A few dazzling pieces were also presented as a quartet, trio, duet and solo.

Andy Ramesh, a Western classical guitar teacher, said, “Generally, one gets to hear solo guitar players. And that too, there’s just a small community of skilled guitarists. It’s very encouraging to see an entire ensemble of guitarists play and this gives hope to a lot of aspiring guitarists to be a part of quintets, quartets and orchestras.”

M R Jagadeesh, music mentor and founder of world-fusion jazz band ‘MoonArra’, who was also present at the concert, said, “It’s a treat to hear an ensemble of guitar players being led by a seasoned, rather veteran, guitar player —  Thangadurai Samuel. I’ve been following him ardently since the late 80s. The finale of the ‘15th East West Music and Dance Encounter 2017’ has been a really great concert and I can certainly call it a fantastic evening.” Rebecca Colaco, a specialist in music therapy and a pianist, felt that it was a rather unique experience for the Bengaluru audience.

“I would like to say that I haven’t had the privilege of hearing a guitar quintet at this level, earlier. It’s so wonderful to feel their vibrant music and sounds! In the context of Western classical music, it’s quite common to see quintets performing in Europe and other places, but it’s quite rare with Indian artistes. That gives the concert an all the more unique flavour,” she said. Music lovers left the venue with an experience that they would savour for a long time to come.