Soiree for Music Lovers

In this performance Janos Negyesy, on the violin, and other musicians played impressive compositions ranging from Mozart, to a sitar concerto by Kartik Seshadri. They played a wide assortment of instruments that I found very impressive because they were able to fuse them together to make such an enjoyable melody. The sharp sounds of string instruments, with the mellow sound of an electric piano, and the droning sitar leading the composition.

The instruments came from various cultural backgrounds, with the main star of the attraction being the sitar. The sitar was developed in northern India around the 13^th century A.D. and is a very interesting instrument because it can have upwards of 23 strings, but only 6 or 7 are actually “playable.” The rest of the strings are responsible for that signature “droning” sound of the sitar and are tuned as required by the musical piece.

The string instruments, like the violins, cellos, violas, and contrabass, on the other hand only have 4 strings and are usually played with a bow, or plucked by the musician. With these different techniques of playing, the musician can in a sense change the “mood” of the piece by mellowing it out, or by adding built up suspense as the end of the song nears.

It was very interesting to see how they used grand pianos for Mozart’s Sonata and an electric piano for the sitar compilation. It added to the “old meets new” seeing such an ancient instrument as the sitar, to the classical violins and piano, and the very modern electric piano all playing together.

Being able to experience such a blend of different music backgrounds all coming together to produce something that is engraved so deeply into our being was incredible. Although humans come from different ends of the earth, and have such various geographic and cultural differences, it is really quite fascinating that we all have such strong ties to our music and the messages and feelings that it portrays. In a way it brings us together, regardless of race or background and lets us express ourselves for who we are. Music seems to strike a chord in what makes us truly human.