By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Staff
Dover Town Library hosted musicians Pranav Swaroop Bettagere and Siddharth for a concert celebrating more than just a love of music. “Sarang--Colors of South Asian Music” celebrates the diverse traditions and influences from the region that shaped their classical music and aims to bring the music and dance to a wider audience. This thematic concert series “Apna-Sa – Sounds of Belonging” turns the attention inward with apna-sa meaning “like my own.” The goal is to connect communities through sounds, stories, and traditions that give a sense of home, and introduce those unfamiliar to a new powerful music tradition.
The concert started off with a lesson, for those of us who were unfamiliar with the traditions of South Asian music. Pranav explained there were two forms of music from the area; Hindustani, from the Northern India region and was influenced by trade in the area, and Carnatic, which is what he was trained in. The two forms produce distinct and different sounds, but share the same grammar at their core. Unlike Pranav, Siddharth’s training is in western piano style but was exposed to Indian classical music in childhood, and is now bridging the gap in his own way. Pranav played the violin but opposed to western style, he held it down and used his leg for support. He shared how Indian music played with a lot of sliding, so it is held differently for support.
As opposed to western music which is based in harmony, Carnatic is melodic. We have the major and minor scales, and some others genre based. This music has melodic scales called ragas, a framework that uses unique ascending and descending patterns and note emphasis to invoke different emotions, represent seasons and times of day, and more. There are hundreds of ragas recognized in classic tradition, and the performers showed some to the crowd. They ranged from nostalgic adventure to a tense, almost wary feeling but each had the crowd nodding along.
Because this was more a fusion of the music, the two improvised their pieces around the ragas. They seemed to talk to each other through performances. Without speaking, they crafted songs that stunned the room to quiet.
“I gravitated to the different centers of feeling,” said Siddharth when asked how they played together so well without music in front of them. And those powerful feelings brought out the meaning of Apna-Sa, celebrating the emotions evoked through music. Whether connecting with an older couple from Northern India or educating people who had never experienced music like this before, the Sounds of Belonging highlighted that music is a deep connection no matter which culture you come from, and exposing yourself to kinds previously foreign to you is an amazing way to open the mind and connect with more people.
