Reena Esmail - Jhula Jhule (2013)
Tim McClure, violin
Annie Huang, piano
Reena Esmail (b. 1983) is an Indian-American composer who blends Indian and Western classical music. The Jhula Jhule (“Swing Swing”) is a fantasy for violin and piano based on two Indian folk songs. The first song, “Ankhon vina andharon re,” was recorded by her maternal grandfather whom she never met. Esmail’s mother recounted memories of nights in Kenya, where her grandfather lived, listening to Beethoven symphonies in the dark, savoring every note. The second tune, “Jhula Jhule,” was sung by her paternal grandmother. When Esmail was a child, her grandmother often sang the lullaby “Jhula Jhule, Jhula Jhule / Reena Rani Jhula Jhule,” which translates: “Back and forth, back and forth / Reena the Queen swings back and forth.” With sounds evocative of Indian folk songs, the instruments interact in an improvisatory manner apart from traditional Western rhythmic boundaries and infused with modern harmonic freedom. Lyrical phrases from the violin create a warm and nostalgic feeling supported by atmospheric passagework from the piano. This project is a significant milestone for Esmail as she incorporates her family’s songs into her compositions, bridging cultural divides and finding resonance in Western concert halls.
Esmail, like so many Western musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds, learned early in life that acceptable music conformed to a canon that until recently did not include or welcome people like her. A woman of South Asian descent who wishes to write for a Western classical audience will follow certain rules, or so she thought until deep-seeded family musical heirlooms quietly blossomed into this work. Though scored for varying combinations of instruments using typical Western music notation, the piece nonetheless transcends any imposed boundaries between cultural art forms and, in the words of the composer, “I’ve finally found a point of resonance.”
For more about Reena Esmail, see www.reenaesmai....
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