Sohal had a lifelong interest in the insights of Indian philosophy but expressed himself musically firmly within the Western classical music tradition. Of this piece, he said:
‘Through my reading, I discovered how Indian sages had explained the phenomenon of Creation. And then, because of my interest in Physics, the Big Bang Theory caught my attention. In some ways these accounts, drawn from two very different traditions, are remarkably similar, but there are important respects in which they differ. This work is my own musical account of the phenomenon of Creation. It is influenced sometimes by one perspective and sometimes by the other.’
The work has seven sections:
Unmanifest,
Big Bang and Aftermath,
Galaxies Disperse,
Sun,
Moon and
Earth. The last is devoted mostly to human endeavour. The audience can expect to have to sit up and take notice!
Commissioned by the BBC for 2013 Proms. First performance 2
nd August 2013, by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Peter Oundjian, at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
- ISMN: 9790570683598 (M570683598)
