Pressed for Time

This work brings together myself as a composer/sitarist alongside John Oliver – one of Canada’s leading composers of music for orchestras, chamber ensembles and electroacoustic media. Together we set out to create a composition that integrates Hindustani Classical music (the music of Northern India and Pakistan) and Western contemporary classical music. The work takes the form of a sitar concerto in one movement.

The piece, called Pressed for Time, draws on as well as departs from the conventions of Hindustani classical music and Western contemporary orchestral music. Pushing past the idea of ‘setting’ the sitar in either a traditional or avant-garde context, we have tried to merge the best of both, developing the raga in a non-linear way, creating unexpected changes and new ideas that transform the musical materials and form. This new synthetic work plays with the listener’s expectations, whichever of these traditions you prefer or know best. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Hari Sharma Foundation for funding the creation of this work.

Pressed For Time will be premiered by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, with myself as the sitar soloist as part of the International Society for Contemporary Music World New Music Days.