The UK premiere of Indian violin maestro L Subramaniam's 'Bharat Symphony' will mark the grand finale of the 'UK-India Year of Culture' celebrations here tomorrow.
The musician will be joined by his wife Bollywood singer Kavita Krishnamurti while presenting what he described as the history of India in musical form alongside the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) at the Barbican Centre.
"The composition is called Bharat Symphony, which is basically a history of India divided into four segments," Subramaniam said on the eve of the concert.
"Starting with the Vedic period, moving into the Mughal period to incorporate the Persian influences into Indian classical music, then the British rule and finally, the post- independence era of global influences," he said.
Besides presenting his compositions, 'Bharat Symphony' and 'Fantasy on Vedic Chants', he will also be performing the Indian classical violin.
The concert, which forms part of the India@UK2017 series, will conclude a series of events over the year to celebrate 70 years of India's independence in the UK, organised by the Indian High Commission in London and Teamwork Arts.
"This is one of the most exciting moments of my life and a huge dream come true. For me, it was very wonderful to know that I was singing an original piece written for an Indian voice and Western orchestra, which is a first," said Krishnamurti.
She will sing a shloka from the Rig Veda, 'Satyamev Jayate', a cadenza for her solo orchestral piece, before concluding on the note of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam' or the world as one family.
"We as musicians have always believed that there is no religion, caste, creed when it comes to music and that is what this whole symphony ends with," she said.
TheBharat Symphonyhad its US premiere at the Chicago World Music Festival in September.
The UK premiere will be accompanied by the release of a CD entitled 'Symphonic Expressions', recorded in March this year with the LSO, and a DVD of L Subramaniam's concert 'Spiritual Morning', live at the Gateway of India in Mumbai.
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