This is one of the last rehearsals before concert at the Mela festival in Oslo. Last time the group of musicians met, was in Colombo, Sri Lanka, six months ago.
Since then, composer Ganesh Anandan fra South India was given the task of writing a contemporary piece combining Asian, traditional music with western, contemporary music. Marius Søbye, member of Norway´s premier percussion group, SISU, appreciates having the Sri Lankan musicians in Norway:
-This is so much fun! Vi have been very excited to get the musicians to Norway. Last time in Sri Lanka we of course noticed how skilled percussionists they were. Now, playing more together, we get that confirmed for sure! What is so obvious, is that we all really enjoy doing this, playing this piece together!
The sound of the day
Composer Ganesh Anandan is originally from South India, but he has worked in Germany, as well as France, Slovenia and Canada. He explains that the piece follows the rhythms of the day.
-The piece starts early in the morning, with recordings I´ve made in Bangalore with sounds from mosques, temples and birds. Asian and western drums and conches give the impressions of morning, he says.
-A new experience
-This is totally different from the Oriental music we usually play! Says Ravi Bandhu Vidyapathy, one of Sri Lankas´ best percussionists. –The piece contains sections meant for SISU and sections meant for oriental drums, when we play together, it sounds fantastic! This is really refreshing and revealing for us as musicians, Vidyapathy says.
Dialogue
The message of the piece, is clear, Anandan says:
-it is a wish to build bridges between Asian and Western music traditions. The message is dialogue, trying to make a dialogue work. And I really think it works here! Anandan says smilingly. Both Anandan and the group of musicians hope this is only the starting point of a bigger project in the future.