Title: Three Songs of Bengal for String Orchestra and Full Orchestra
Total length: 5 minutes
Grade Level: 2 - 3
Lead Commissioner: Matthew Oyen, St. Paul Central High School
Consortium fee: $100.00 (digital copy of score and parts for both the string orchestra arrangement and full orchestra arrangement) Pay Here or inquire about sending a check by emailing [email protected]
Score and Parts Delivery Date: January 31st, 2027
World Premiere date: January, 2027
Sign Up Here - Enter your name and school information for the consortium dedication
Total length: 5 minutes
Grade Level: 2 - 3
Lead Commissioner: Matthew Oyen, St. Paul Central High School
Consortium fee: $100.00 (digital copy of score and parts for both the string orchestra arrangement and full orchestra arrangement) Pay Here or inquire about sending a check by emailing [email protected]
Score and Parts Delivery Date: January 31st, 2027
World Premiere date: January, 2027
Sign Up Here - Enter your name and school information for the consortium dedication
Three Songs of Bengal is an arrangement of Bengali music for both string orchestra and full orchestra. The work will feature songs by Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and the Baul tradition. Within the piece, students will play traditional Bengali melodies, harmonies generated out of raga scales and rhythms that draw from both Indian folkloric and classical musics. The arrangements will feature an optional tabla part that may be played by an experienced student tabla player or a guest artist. Conductors and programs joining the consortium commission will receive digital score and parts for both the string orchestra arrangement and full orchestra arrangement.
This project began as an arrangement for wind band in 2019. Since its premiere by Jeff Ball and Brooklyn’s Grand Street High School the piece has been performed at the Midwest Clinic by Jennifer Bergeron and Walsh Middle School, has been accepted on the New York State repertoire list, and has sold numerous copies through Murphy Music Press. In 2024 the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies under the direction of Diane Halberg commissioned a full orchestra arrangement of the third movement of Three Songs of Bengal, titled Aakash Ta Kapchilo Ken.” The GTCYS commission planted the seed for this current consortium project. After studying string writing with Pulitzer prize winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank from 2021-2024 I am ready and excited to create a full orchestra and string orchestra arrangement of Three Songs of Bengal.
This project began as an arrangement for wind band in 2019. Since its premiere by Jeff Ball and Brooklyn’s Grand Street High School the piece has been performed at the Midwest Clinic by Jennifer Bergeron and Walsh Middle School, has been accepted on the New York State repertoire list, and has sold numerous copies through Murphy Music Press. In 2024 the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies under the direction of Diane Halberg commissioned a full orchestra arrangement of the third movement of Three Songs of Bengal, titled Aakash Ta Kapchilo Ken.” The GTCYS commission planted the seed for this current consortium project. After studying string writing with Pulitzer prize winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank from 2021-2024 I am ready and excited to create a full orchestra and string orchestra arrangement of Three Songs of Bengal.
Full Orchestra Instrumentation Grade Level 2-3
|
Flute
Oboe Clarinet 1 & 2 Bassoon Horn Trumpet 1 & 2 Trombone Tuba |
Violin 1
Violin 2 Violin 3 (Viola Double) Viola Cello Bass optional Harp optional Piano |
Timpani
Percussion 1 Percussion 2 Percussion 3 Percussion 4 Percussion 5 Percussion 6 optional Tabla |
String Orchestra Instrumentation Grade Level 2-3
Violin 1
Violin 2
Violin 3 (Viola Double)
Viola
Cello
Bass
Percussion (flexible percussion)
Optional harp, optional piano
Violin 2
Violin 3 (Viola Double)
Viola
Cello
Bass
Percussion (flexible percussion)
Optional harp, optional piano
In 2024 the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies commissioned an orchestra arrangement of the third movement of Three Songs of Bengal. Watch their performance below, which includes an extended tabla solo! Conducted by Diane Hallberg.
About Three Songs of Bengal
For the majority of 2013 to 2015, I lived in Kolkata, India with a performing arts fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS). My project was to study Hindustani evening and night ragas with the goal of composing a suite of nocturnes at the intersection of jazz and raga music. The process of this work involved hours of lessons with Prattyush Banerjee, performances with the tabla virtuoso Tanmoy Bose, and regular practice on my saxophone, all the while gathering sounds, stories, and experiences in West Bengal. Though my initial plan was to immerse myself in Hindustani music, which is considered to be North India’s classical music, I fell in love with the repertoire of Bengal itself. When I attended concerts, the program was often peppered with the poets, playwrights, and composers of Bengal’s rich cultural landscape. I discovered that each of these artists had their own relationship to Hindustani music, their own way of upholding tradition and driving innovation. My experiences of performing with singers and musicians from the Baul tradition were some of the most memorable of my time in Bengal. Their drumming and song forms have a visceral quality, a way of opening up the mind and heart through their vibrations.
During one of my long practice sessions in Kolkata, I took a break to visit the chai stand at the end of my street. These chai breaks had become as routine as my practicing. On this particular day an elderly man saw my American body language and started a conversation. “What is your name?” he asked. His face was creased with many years and his consonants were softened by the absence of most of his teeth. “My name is Aakash Mittal,” I replied, a small clay cup of chai now in hand. “Oh! Your name is Aakash!” he stammered. “You know that means sky,” he exclaimed with a wave of his hand, as if he was opening a curtain to reveal the sky above us. I nodded with a smile. “Oh! Is it okay if I sing a Tagore song with your name in it?” “Sure,” I replied, curious and unsure of what I was about to be drawn into. The old man launched into the song and to my amazement the rest of the people who had stopped to get chai joined in. I found myself within a chorus of ten to twelve people from different walks of life all sharing a moment of singing together. I was in awe. Day laborers, businessmen, and commuters not only shared the same repertoire but a love of singing. It was an experience of shared cultural memory and celebration. A sonic moment that revealed the power music has to bring people together and unite them, even if for a brief time.
Three Songs of Bengal is a work that serves a number of intersecting purposes. Most simply, it is a follow up piece to my first composition for wind ensemble titled Samay Raga. Three Songs explores similar territory albeit from a different angle. The music utilizes dyad harmonies derived from raga phrases without the constraint of adhering strictly to the raga structure that takes place in Samay Raga. At times, Three Songs dips into western harmonic function while remaining thoroughly outside of traditional chord progressions. Rhythmically the piece incorporates rhythmic cadences, called ti-hai, and continues to explore the sounds of ritual drumming utilized in Samay Raga. One area Three Songs diverges from Samay Raga is its use of the Hindustani rhythmic cycle teen taal and the incorporation of South Asian instruments such as the tabla and ek tara.
This work is a celebration of the music of Bengal, specifically highlighting the lives and music of three great Bengali composers: Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and the Baul tradition. Creating Three Songs of Bengal has been a way for me to further explore and learn about Bengali repertoire following my study abroad. There are many scholarly works, recordings by virtuosos, and creative interpretations of this music already in existence. I hope this arrangement contributes to that larger body of work and brings new listeners to Bengali music.
It is my intention that Three Songs of Bengal will contribute to diversifying the repertoire performed by school institutions. Specifically, I hope the piece will aid the work of anti-racism through music. In January of 2019, while attending the Chamber Music America conference in New York City, the keynote speaker and best selling author, Ta-Nehisi Cotes stated, “Our world often regards the world of art, the world of myth, and the world of symbol as ancillary [to policy]…but I think art is what actually bounds the world of policy. By which I mean, it outlines the borders of what is possible and what is not. I think art is the world of the imagination and if you don’t have the imagination you can’t ever get to the policy in the first place.” With this viewpoint in mind, I aim for Three Songs of Bengal to reimagine the music of three composers, and reimagine the society we live in as one that values South Asian names, stories, music, histories and thoughts. Through this work, I wish to highlight the plurality of South Asian cultures and open the door for students, teachers, and audiences to further explore South Asian music and pedagogy.
During one of my long practice sessions in Kolkata, I took a break to visit the chai stand at the end of my street. These chai breaks had become as routine as my practicing. On this particular day an elderly man saw my American body language and started a conversation. “What is your name?” he asked. His face was creased with many years and his consonants were softened by the absence of most of his teeth. “My name is Aakash Mittal,” I replied, a small clay cup of chai now in hand. “Oh! Your name is Aakash!” he stammered. “You know that means sky,” he exclaimed with a wave of his hand, as if he was opening a curtain to reveal the sky above us. I nodded with a smile. “Oh! Is it okay if I sing a Tagore song with your name in it?” “Sure,” I replied, curious and unsure of what I was about to be drawn into. The old man launched into the song and to my amazement the rest of the people who had stopped to get chai joined in. I found myself within a chorus of ten to twelve people from different walks of life all sharing a moment of singing together. I was in awe. Day laborers, businessmen, and commuters not only shared the same repertoire but a love of singing. It was an experience of shared cultural memory and celebration. A sonic moment that revealed the power music has to bring people together and unite them, even if for a brief time.
Three Songs of Bengal is a work that serves a number of intersecting purposes. Most simply, it is a follow up piece to my first composition for wind ensemble titled Samay Raga. Three Songs explores similar territory albeit from a different angle. The music utilizes dyad harmonies derived from raga phrases without the constraint of adhering strictly to the raga structure that takes place in Samay Raga. At times, Three Songs dips into western harmonic function while remaining thoroughly outside of traditional chord progressions. Rhythmically the piece incorporates rhythmic cadences, called ti-hai, and continues to explore the sounds of ritual drumming utilized in Samay Raga. One area Three Songs diverges from Samay Raga is its use of the Hindustani rhythmic cycle teen taal and the incorporation of South Asian instruments such as the tabla and ek tara.
This work is a celebration of the music of Bengal, specifically highlighting the lives and music of three great Bengali composers: Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and the Baul tradition. Creating Three Songs of Bengal has been a way for me to further explore and learn about Bengali repertoire following my study abroad. There are many scholarly works, recordings by virtuosos, and creative interpretations of this music already in existence. I hope this arrangement contributes to that larger body of work and brings new listeners to Bengali music.
It is my intention that Three Songs of Bengal will contribute to diversifying the repertoire performed by school institutions. Specifically, I hope the piece will aid the work of anti-racism through music. In January of 2019, while attending the Chamber Music America conference in New York City, the keynote speaker and best selling author, Ta-Nehisi Cotes stated, “Our world often regards the world of art, the world of myth, and the world of symbol as ancillary [to policy]…but I think art is what actually bounds the world of policy. By which I mean, it outlines the borders of what is possible and what is not. I think art is the world of the imagination and if you don’t have the imagination you can’t ever get to the policy in the first place.” With this viewpoint in mind, I aim for Three Songs of Bengal to reimagine the music of three composers, and reimagine the society we live in as one that values South Asian names, stories, music, histories and thoughts. Through this work, I wish to highlight the plurality of South Asian cultures and open the door for students, teachers, and audiences to further explore South Asian music and pedagogy.