Hommage Danielou - Fondation Alain Daniélou

8pm
Greetings by authorities
Lorenzo Piazzai
Mayor Zagarolo
Daniele Leodori
President Giunta Regionale Lazio
Sandro Vallerotonda
President Istituzione Palazzo Rospigliosi
Jacques Cloarec
Alain Daniélou Foundation Honorary President

8.30pm
Ritwik Sanyal vocal
Parminder Singh Bhamra pakhawaj

9pm
Alain Danielou: the way to the labyrinth
a film doc by Riccardo Biadene
78′ | Italy / Switzerland 2017

FREE ADMISSION

Dhrupad is a solemn and austere form of classical Hindustani music which has remained almost unchanged over centuries, having been transmitted orally from generation to generation. Originating from temple music and later developed in the royal courts of North India, Dhrupad strictly adheres to the canons of traditional Indian music, and today it is considered its purest and ancient style. Its solemn and highly-structured compositions are constructed in the form of devotional poems. Dhrupad takes its name from dhruvapada, where dhruva means fixed or structured, and pada indicates poetic metre. When examining the raga, a musical composition meaning the capacity to “colour the mind”, many sacred syllables known as nomtom are used when improvising the texts and which represent its fundamental element and constitute the building blocks for the extemporaneous creation of the melody.

Ritwik Sanyal is one of the finest interpreters of Dhrupad song in the contemporary musical panorama. He is both a teacher and philosopher, and is currently director of the Department of Music of the University of Benares. During his long career, Pandit Ritwik Sanyal has received many awards, among which the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, conferred by the President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee in 2013. Pandit Ritwik Sanyal has published numerous articles in scientific journals and has written many Dhrupad compositions. He has performed in the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Korea, Israel, Croatia, Brazil, Mauritius and Japan. For many years he has collaborated with the National Programme of Music for AIR (All India Radio) and the Doordarshan radio channels. He has participated in many prestigious Dhrupad Music Festivals in India: Gwalior Tansen Samaroh, Varanasi Dhrupad Mela, Harballabh Sangeet Samaroh Jallandhar, and Saptak Ahmedabad.

www.dhrupadindia.com

Parminder Singh Bhamra is a professional pakhawaj-jori percussionist, and from 2003, a student of Bhai Baldeep Singh (13th generation of Gurbani Kirtan maryadā and Maestro of the Sultanpur Lodhi – Amritsari baaj traditional school). His grandfather was the famous musician and luthier Gyani Harbhajan Singh Mistri, who passed down the ancient art of making traditional Indian instruments to his grandson.

Alain Danielou: the way to the labyrinth

An adventurous musical journey starting from Brittany, passing through India (Shantiniketan, Varanasi, Khajuraho, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Pondicherry), Berlin, Venice and Rome, following the story of the French-born Alain Daniélou, indologist and musicologist who mainly lived in India between the 30’s and the 60’s. In Banaras (now Varanasi) Daniélou and his life-partner, the Swiss photographer Raymond Burnier made for 15 years their home in Rewa palace, on the banks of the Ganga. Here Daniélou became a Sanskrit scholar, converted to Hinduism, studied Indian classical music, played the veena professionally and wrote books about Veda, Hindu philosophy and Shivaism. Since 1950 Daniélou is the curator of the first world classical music collection for UNESCO. From the 60s, come back in Europe, created the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies, in Berlin and then in Venice. Alain Daniélou spent last years between Rome, Lausanne, Berlin and Paris, his preference being or a large house hidden among the vineyards of the hills of Zagarolo, close to Rome. Indian Music, Dance, Religion, Tradition vs Modernity, Sculpture and Philosophy are explored in his documentary through the eyes and the autobiography of Daniélou himself The way to the Labyrinth, with the main focus being on The Music of Gods, the traditional Indian Music.

alaindanieloudocfilm.com