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The Roaring Whirl Imagine idling for a moment as the Punjabi sun begins to burn through the dawn mist and looking down along the bustling river of human traffic that forms the grand trunk of India. As cattle and produce move to market, the air is full of cumin, bright colours and creaking cartwheels: India awakes. This vibrant atmosphere is wonderfully recreated in a musical work by Sarah Rodgers - THE ROARING WHIRL. It is a remarkable work, introducing many facets of Indian life philosophy and synthesising the music of Asia and the West, instrumentally and compositionally. The improvising spirit of ragas and talas provide a thematic focus for each section of the piece and are imbued by Sarah Rodgers' own inspired musical instincts. A subtle scoring of clarinet, guitar, sitar and tabla beautifully cross the cultural boundaries. SARAH RODGERS, is a composer whose wide range of interests is reflected in the commissions she has completed in recent years. Her studies at the University of Nottingham specialising in the music of South East Asia were followed by two years in West Africa for VSO where she expanded her knowledge of the music of other cultures. This has found expression in cross-cultural works such as The Roaring Whirl, an extended music-drama piece for narrator, musicians and dancer which, with assistance from the East Midlands Arts Board and Nottinghamshire County Council, was developed over a four year period. It received a highly successful premiere in the Nottingham Now festival in 1992 and was featured on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Two subsequent commissions funded by the Arts Council were a research project in electro-acoustic music and a new work for bassethorn and piano which received performances in Belgium and the USA and was premiered in London at the Wigmore Hall in 1994. Later in the same year, she completed a commission from the Methodist Church of Great Britain for a setting of the communion service, published in September 1994. Sarah Rodgers' more recent cross-cultural work is a commission from the Eastern Orchestral Board. Entitled, Saigyo, meaning western journey, it extends the composer's fascination for the cross-cultural medium by combining the forces of a Western chamber orchestra with a group of Eastern wind instruments - two Japanese Shakuhachi and two North Indian bansuri. Saigyo received its world premiere on 21st April 1995 played in a concert at the Peterborough Cathedral by the City of London Sinfonia, conducted by the composer. Sarah Rodgers has completed a three-year term as Chairman of the Composers' Guild of Great Britain is a Director of the British Music Information Centre, a Director of MCPS and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
SEVENTH HEAVEN clarinet - GERALDINE ALLEN Each player is a distinguished soloist in his or her own right and well-known to concert audiences. As a champion of contemporary music with a world-wide repertoire, GERALDINE ALLEN is known for her festival appearances, including Cheltenham International Festival, for Radio 3 broadcasts and for concert tours throughout Europe where she has been heard most recently in Russia and Spain. TIMOTHY WALKER is the principal guitarist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta. He has worked with many of the world's leading conductors and enjoys a varied solo career including broadcasts for Radio and TV. BALUJI SHRIVASTAV moved to Europe in 1981 bringing with him a vast knowledge of Indian Music. He is one of the world's leading sitar, tabla and pakhavaj players and is active as both performer and composer with many broadcasts and film scores to his name. For more information about SARAH RODGERS, SEVENTH HEAVEN and THE ROARING WHIRL, e-mail impulse@impulse-music.co.uk or telephone +44 (0) 1760 441 441. |
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