Naresh Sohal (18 September 1939 – 30 April 2018) was a British composer of Indian origin. He wrote in the tradition of western classical music. He was the first composer in this tradition ever to make settings of texts in Punjabi language, Punjabi and
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
(although he also made many settings in English). He was the first composer ever to be offered an annual bursary by the Arts Council of Great Britain. Sohal was the first Non Resident Indian (NRI) ever to be awarded a
Padma Shri
Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
(Order of the Lotus) by the Indian Government.
Although Sohal wrote in the Western idiom, his extensive range of compositions shows a long-standing and serious commitment to the insights of
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
philosophy.
Life and career
Sohal was born in
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
, Northern India. From an early age, he showed an interest in popular music, his tastes being influenced by the broadcasts of
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All ...
and Radio Ceylon. He did not come from a musical family, but his father, Des Raj, was an
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' harmonica and become a versatile performer of rock and roll and Indian film songs, and once entertained the President of India at a college gathering. He also tried his hand at composition, writing marches and waltzes for the Punjab Armed Police Band. It became clear that his ambitions lay outside the disciplines he studied, although he always maintained an interest in pure Physics. Without graduating, he made off to Bombay to seek a musical role in the film industry. But while he was there, he had his first encounter with Western classical music, hearting
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
's '' Eroica Symphony'' on the radio during the monsoon. This was a transformative experience. He determined to learn more about how such music was created. His resolve hardened when an Indian musician refused to teach him Indian classical music on the mouth organ. In 1962, he left India for the United Kingdom, intending to find a way to learn to write western music.
Sohal was largely self-educated, but was mentored for some time by the composer and teacher Jeremy Dale Roberts whom he held in high regard. He became a copyist at publisher Boosey & Hawks and began composing in earnest. He had his first work, ''Asht Prahar'', performed at a Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM) concert in 1970. After that, he went on to produce well over sixty works, ranging from small chamber works to vast works for orchestra, chorus and soloists, as well as scores for film and TV. His larger works include ''The Wanderer'' for chorus, orchestra and baritone soloist which premiered at the
BBC Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
in 1982; ''From Gitanjali''; ''Tandava Nritya;'' ''Lila, Hymn of Creation;'' ''Gautama Buddha'', a ballet on the life of
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...
in 1989; Dhyan 1 for 'cello and orchestra; vioilin and viola concertos; two chamber operas, ''Madness Lit by Lightning,'' and ''Maya'' which he wrote in partnership with the librettist, Trevor Preston. His TV work included music for the STV documentary, 'Sir William in Search of Xanadu' which marked the opening of the Burrell Collection, and the Granada TV series 'End of Empire'. He was always concerned with the existential questions at the heart of Indian philosophy, and maintained an interest in the musical culture of the sub-continent. For instance, ''The Divine Song'', a piece for narrator and orchestra focuses on the central message of the '' Bhagavad Gita'' which concerns fulfilling one's responsibilities in the face of difficult choices. In the 1980s he produced a collection of contemporary
ghazals
The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a p ...
. in the tradition of Northern India.
The premiere of Sohal's second Proms commission, his 45-minute ''The Cosmic Dance'', took place on 2 August 2013. His last great ambition was to write a large-scale opera. Unfortunately, this was not fulfilled.
After eleven years as a resident of Edinburgh, he returned to London where he lived for twenty-six years. He was working on an orchestral piece for the South Bank Centre in London when he died unexpectedly in 2018, on Vesak, the day that marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha. His contribution to twentieth/twenty-first century classical music in the West is entirely unique, reflecting as it does, a dual cultural perspective but complete fluency in the musical tradiotion he adopted.
The earlier part of his catalogue is held by WiseMusic Classical: https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/composer/1474/Naresh-Sohal/
The later part of his catalogue is held by Composers Edition: https://composersedition.com/nareshsohal/ The works held by Composers Edition can also be found in six of the UK's main libraries.
The composer's website is www.nareshsohal.com.
His estate is managed by his widow, Janet Swinney.
Critical analysis
Critics have referred to Sohal's style as follows:-
* "Sohal's music is dominated by a wonderful sense of colour – for that reason he loves above all to write for the orchestra with its endless range of timbres and textures... His musical style is unique and independent, indeed maverick." – ''Music Current'', September 1989.
* "Like Berlioz or Tippett, his musical style has a maverick independence and a peculiar set of criteria all its own." – Meirion Bowen, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 21 August 1982.
* "His is a particularly distinctive voice." – Carol Main, ''
Scotland on Sunday
''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate '' The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 20 ...
'', 18 September 1992.
Sohal's works have been performed both nationally and internationally. Artistes who have performed them include Jane Manning and Sally Silver, sopranos;
David Wilson-Johnson
David Wilson-Johnson (born 16 November 1950, in Northampton) is a British operatic and concert baritone.
Career
David Wilson-Johnson was educated at Wellingborough School, and studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine's College, Cam ...
, baritone; Xue Wei, violin; Barry Buy, double bass;
Rivka Golani
Rivka Golani ( he, רבקה גולני , born 22 March 1946) is a world–renowned Israeli-born viola player.
She has performed as soloist with many orchestras throughout the world including the Boston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Royal Conc ...
, viola;
Rohan de Saram
Deshamanya Rohan de Saram (born 9 March 1939) is a British-born Sri Lankan cellist. Until his 30s, he made his name as a classical artist, but has since become renowned for his involvement in and advocacy of contemporary music. He travels widely an ...
, cello; the ConTempo, Dante and Edinburgh quartets; the
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional r ...
under
Sir Andrew Davis
Sir Andrew Frank Davis (born 2 February 1944) is an English conductor. He is conductor laureate of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Early life and education
Born in Ashridge ...
, and the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
under
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the fou ...
. There were performances of his work at the Dartington and Spitalfields festivals in the UK. In 2006, he was a guest of the Pan-Asian Music Festival at Stanford University, USA, where his ''Songs of the Five Rivers'' was performed. Sohal's orchestral work was championed chiefly by Zubin Mehta and Sir Andrew Davis, each of whom commissioned two works from him.
In 1987, the composer was awarded a Padma Shri (Order of the Lotus) by the Indian government for his services to music.
Notes
References
*''The Strand'', July 2000,
*''The Independent'', 19 March 1997,
*''The Scotsman'' 23 August 1989,
*''Houston Chronicle'' 25 May 1989,
*''Scotland on Sunday'' 4 June 1989,
*''New York Times'' 15 September 1985,
*''The Economic Times of India'' 7 March 1983,
*''The Observer'' colour supplement 22 August 1982,
*''The National Centre for Performing Arts Quarterly Journal'' Vol. XII 1983, nos. 2 and 3 (Part One)
*''Musical Times'' August 1982.
*''The Guardian'' 23 August 1982.
*''International Herald Tribune'', 13 September 1985,
*''The Straits Times'' 21 September 1982.
*''New York Times'', Tempo magazine, Spring 1971.
*''Oxford Companion to Music'', ''People of Today'' from Debretts
*The British Music Information Centre,
*The National Library of Scotland, where some of the composer's scores are held,
*Novello and Company, publishers.