''West Meets East, Volume 2'' is an album by American violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, released in 1968. It is the second album in a trilogy of collaborations between the two artists, after the Grammy Award-winning ''

West Meets East ''West Meets East'' is an album by American violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, released in Britain in January 1967. It was recorded following their successful duet in June 1966 at the Bath Musical Festival, where t ...

'' (1967).Reginald Massey
"Ravi Shankar obituary"
'' The Guardian'', 12 December 2012 (retrieved 3 December 2013). The release followed Menuhin and Shankar's duet on 10 December 1967 at the United Nations in New York, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', p. 184. As part of his utopian ideal, international human rights was a cause long supported by Menuhin in his work, while for

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

, this Human Rights Day recital marked the first time that a performance had received a worldwide television broadcast. Reflecting the celebrity status afforded the sitarist during this period, particularly as a result of his association with

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

of the Beatles, Shankar's activities were filmed for a documentary on his life, released as ''

Raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

'' in 1971, and his autobiography ''My Music, My Life'' (1968) became a bestseller. Although ''West Meets East, Volume 2'' was another popular success for Menuhin and Shankar, their work together drew further criticism from purists in India, who considered that Shankar was westernising and thus diluting Indian classical music.

Recording and musical content

The follow-up to ''West Meets East'' was announced in February 1968, when ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine reported that Menuhin and Shankar had been recording new material together at Angel Records' New York studios. While their first album continued to top that magazine's Best Selling Classical LP's listings, Shankar had also achieved mainstream success with the recently released '' Live: Ravi Shankar at the Monterey International Pop Festival'', which peaked at number 43 on the ''Billboard'' Top LP's chart – the highest US chart placing he would achieve throughout his career. Angel released the new Menuhin–Shankar set on 15 July that year. The album peaked at number 3 on the Classical LP's listings. ''West Meets East, Volume 2'' contains a version of the piece played at the United Nations, an interpretation of Raga Piloo.Lavazzoli, p. 63. According to Shankar's comments in a March 1968 issue of '' Rolling Stone'' magazine, they recorded this selection "just a few days ago".Sue C. Clark
"Ravi Shankar: The ''Rolling Stone'' Interview"
'' Rolling Stone'', 9 March 1968 (retrieved 3 December 2013). As at the recital, Menuhin and Shankar were accompanied by Alla Rakha on tabla and

Kamala Chakravarty Kamala Chakravarty (born Saraswati Kamala Shastri, 1928) is an Indian classical musician and former dancer, known for her association with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. From 1967 until the late 1970s, she accompanied Shankar, in the role of tambur ...

, Shankar's female companion, on tambura.Sleeve credits
''West Meets East, Volume 2'' LP ( HMV Records, 1968). The second piece is "Raga Ananda Bhairava", performed by Shankar with his regular accompanist and instrument-maker,

Nodu Mullick Nodu Mullick was a musician and instrument-maker from Calcutta, India. Pandit Ravi Shankar commissioned multiple sitars from him, and they were Shankar's primary performance instrument starting in 1961. Mullick accompanied Shankar on tanpura ...

,Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', p. 159. on tambura, and Rakha again on tabla. Side two in the original LP format consists of Menuhin and his sister Hephzibah performing Bartók's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano.

Track listing

All selections by Ravi Shankar except where noted. Side one # " Raga Piloo" – 14:44 # "Raga Ananda Bhairava" – 15:37 Side two #

"Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 1" (

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

) – 33:13

Personnel

* Yehudi Menuhin – violin * Ravi Shankar – sitar * Alla Rakha – tabla * Hephzibah Menuhin – piano * N.C. Mullick – tambura *

– tambura

References

Sources

* Peter Lavezzoli, ''The Dawn of Indian Music in the West'', Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ). * Reginald Massey, ''The Music of India'', Abhinav Publications (New Delhi, NCT, 1996; ). * Ravi Shankar, ''My Music, My Life'', Mandala Publishing (San Rafael, CA, 2007; ). * Ravi Shankar, ''Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankar'', Welcome Rain (New York, NY, 1999; ). * ''World Music: The Rough Guide (Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific)'', Rough Guides/Penguin (London, 2000; ). {{Authority control 1968 albums Ravi Shankar albums

Recording and musical content

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References

Sources