''West Meets East'' is an album by American violinist

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

and Indian

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

virtuoso

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

, released in Britain in January 1967. It was recorded following their successful duet in June 1966 at the Bath Musical Festival, where they had played some of the same material. The album was issued in America on

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Angel Records Angel Records was a record label founded by EMI in 1953. It specialised in classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score. and one Peter Sellers comedy disc. The famous Recording Angel trademark was used by the Gramophon ...

imprint in June 1967. ''West Meets East'' was number 1 on '' Billboard''s Best Selling Classical LP's list for eighteen weeks in 1967 and continued to top that chart through January the following year. It also placed on the mainstream national chart (later the ''Billboard'' 200), where it peaked at number 161. In February 1968, the album won the 1967

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance The Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance was awarded from 1959 to 2011. The award was discontinued in 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; since 2012, recordings in this category have fallen under the Best Small Ensemble Perfor ...

, the first time that an Asian musician had won a Grammy. This recognition coincided with a period of heightened interest in Indian classical music, and particularly Shankar,Ken Hunt
"Ravi Shankar"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

(retrieved 1 December 2013). as Western pop and rock bands such as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

and

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...

all adopted sitar or other aspects of the genre into their sound. In July 1968, Angel Records announced that ''West Meets East'' was the fastest selling LP in the history of the label. The album was the first in a trilogy of "West Meets East" collaborations by Menuhin and Shankar,Reginald Massey
"Ravi Shankar obituary"
''

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 ...

'', 12 December 2012 (retrieved 1 December 2013). volumes

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

and three appearing in 1968 and 1976, respectively.Lavezzoli, p. 63. The friendship between the two musicians had begun in India in the early 1950s,Shankar, ''My Music, My Life'', p. 94. after which Menuhin had done much to introduce Western audiences to Indian music."Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar ''West Meets East''"

(retrieved 1 December 2013).

Musical content

On the recording, the main performers are accompanied at various points by

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

player

Alla Rakha Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000), popularly known as Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player who specialized in Hindustani classical music. He was a frequent accompanist of sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and ...

; Menuhin's sister, pianist

Hephzibah Menuhin Hephzibah Menuhin (20 May 19201 January 1981) was an American-Australian pianist, writer, and human rights campaigner. She was sister to the violinist Yehudi Menuhin and to the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin. She was also a linguist ...

; and Prodyot Sen, on tambura. In addition to Shankar's and Menuhin's liner notes on the album sleeve,"Credits: Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar ''West Meets East''"

(retrieved 1 December 2013). musician

John Barham John Barham is an English classical pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator. He is best known for his orchestration of George Harrison albums such as ''All Things Must Pass'' (1970) and for his association with Indian sitar maestro R ...

supplied a glossary, explaining musical terms such as alap, gat and tala. At the Bath Festival, Barham had translated Shankar's interpretation of Raga Tilang into Western annotation for Menuhin's benefit.Lavezzoli, p. 62. When making ''West Meets East'', Shankar rewrote this Tilang-based piece,Sue C. Clark
"Ravi Shankar: The ''Rolling Stone'' Interview"
''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', 9 March 1968 (retrieved 1 December 2013). recording it with Menuhin as "Swara Kakali". The album's opening selection is "Prabhati", a Shankar composition based on Raga Gunakali,Shankar, ''My Music, My Life'', p. 95. and played by Menuhin and Rakha. The fourth selection, filling side two in the LP format, is " Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25", featuring Hephzibah Menuhin.Sleeve credits
''West Meets East'' LP (

HMV Records His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

, 1966). This piece was written by Romanian composer

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

, who had been Yehudi Menuhin's teacher.Lionel Rolfe
"West Meets East"
''

Pasadena Weekly Southland Publishing, Inc. is a publishing company based in Pasadena, California with five offices in Southern California ( Downtown Los Angeles, Ventura County, Santa Monica, Pasadena, and San Diego). The company produces weekly newspapers, mon ...

'', 10 January 2013 (retrieved 1 December 2013).

Track listing

All selections by Ravi Shankar except where noted. Side one # "Prabhati" – 4:08 # "Raga Puriya Kalyan" – 11:45 # "Swara Kakali (based on Raga Tilang)" – 8:46 Side two # Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25" (

) – 24:08

Personnel

– violin *

–

, musical arrangements *

–

– piano * Prodyot Sen – tambura

References

Sources

* Peter Lavezzoli, ''The Dawn of Indian Music in the West'', Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ). * 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 1967 albums Ravi Shankar albums

Musical content

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References

Sources