Ravi Shankar’s musical mind is incredible. It is like a volcano of energy and infinite possibility- ready to move at any time in any direction, and yet with the poise and balance of a composer like Mozart. Ravi Shankar has taught me much about the power of music. Perhaps most importantly in this age of technology I have learnt an appreciation of music’s universal context, its magical, non-materialistic power drawn from ancient roots deep within the human psyche.

In Ravi Shankar’s words:
“Our tradition teaches us that sound is God- Nada Brahma. That is, musical sound and the musical experience are steps to the realisation of the self. We view music as a kind of spiritual discipline that raises one’s inner being to divine peacefulness and bliss. We are taught that one of the fundamental goals a Hindu works towards in his lifetime is a knowledge of the true meaning of the universe - its unchanging, eternal essence….The highest aim of our music is to reveal the essence of the universe it reflects, and the ragas are among the means by which this essence can be apprehended.”

Many people are unaware that Beethoven also shared this perspective: this is made clear in an autograph document currently in the Royal College of Music collection in London. In it, Beethoven has written:
“There is no greater than He, Brahm; his mind is self-existent. He the Almighty, is present in every part of space……” (Brahm or Brahman= God in Indian philosophy).

Apart from a wonderful sense of perspective, Indian music can teach Western musicians many practical lessons. To give one example:
Leading Indian musicians have a particularly heightened rhythmic sense. Rather than being constrained by bar-lines they have a system of talas or rhythmic cycles. These talas can range from cycles of 3 beats right up to cycles of 108 beats!

On a basic level studying Indian rhythmic cycles hones a Western musician’s sense of the passage of time. As the rhythmic skills involved are likely to be complex, this study facilitates concentration on the here and now. Less experienced Western musicians can tend to drift from beat to beat without real awareness of what is happening in between: Indian skills tighten up the concentration on the moment and enhance rhythmic accuracy to a remarkable degree.

The rhythmic sophistication of Indian music also encompasses a concept known as “laya”. On one level laya means the feeling of the pulse of the music: a musician with an exceptional sense of rhythm is described as “having good laya”. On a deeper level it means an awareness of what could be described as the fabric of the music meshing with the fabric of time. This feeling of laya is evident in the performances of the finest Western musicians too; one only has to think of some of the recordings of Furtwangler or Kleiber. The bar line has been transcended, taking its rightful place in the music’s structure, rubati are perfectly judged; stretching and releasing the music’s fabric organically where lesser musicians would either tear this fabric or ignore it altogether. There is also a profound sense of organic rightness as the music unfolds through time.

Laya is an ancient concept rooted in the Vedic idea of an all embracing universal rhythm. In an inspired performance the musician feels the pulse
of the music within this universal pulse. Laya therefore is one of the means by which Indian musicians aim to raise individual consciousness. To quote Ravi Shankar: “to a realm of awareness where the revelation of the true meaning of the universe - its eternal and unchanging essence - can be joyfully experienced”.

with Ravi and Anoushka Shankar and violinist Joshua Bell after working on Shankar’s new composition: Vachaspati