zerOclassikal: This Is Not Random…
Shifting, transformative, unbound. South Asian classical raag meets the octatonic scale in Shift Octatonic and BeachFront.
Be led on a transformative listening journey by Jonathan Mayer in Shift Octatonic, as he deftly weaves together raag, taal, electronics and radical transpositions.
Composers like Debussy and Stravinsky gave the octatonic scale fame in the early 20th century. But the eight-note musical scale’s roots reach back to seventh century Persian music. Shift Octatonic retraces these migration patterns from Persia to the West and onward into South Asia with urgency and imagination.
Multi-instrumentation expands the layered, tonal world of the sarod in the second work, BeachFront. At its heart is a probing look at the agency and forces behind migration, what we perceive as ‘foreign’ and what becomes home.
BeachFront, for sarod, trombone and saxophone, is a modern Hindustani raga borrowed from the Carnatic (Kirwani) tradition, fusing South Asian classical with avant-garde music. Inspired by the raga-influenced work of Éliane Radigue, Philip Glass and La Monte Young, the piece explores global capital flows and migration, juxtaposing meditative ragas against the industrial sounds of supply chains to forge a modern musical language.
This Is Not Random… is a zerOclassikal series where the inner structure, intention and divergence of South Asian classical music are placed at the centre.
Shift Octatonic features Jonathan Mayer (sitar), Chandra Chakraborty (vocals), Robin Christian (bansuri), Jawand Jheeta (dilruba), Janan Sathiendran (tabla) and Camilo Tirado (electronics).
BeachFront features William Rees Hofmann (sarod), Edward Lucas (trombone) and Massimo Magee (saxophone).
Need to know
For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.
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